d ô m ç d ó r
by indyyugi
Summary: (Primarily a crossover between LOTR and InuYasha, so I just stuck it here ;) A young half-Elf caught in a war and surrounded by heroes tries to make a name for herself and forget her past. Even repented sins unforgotten remain unforgiven..


Disclaimer: anything you recognize: we don't own. Anything you do recognize: we own. See? Simple as that. ;)  
  
-based on a true story-  
  
..d ? m ? d ó r..  
..man.nai.i.na.eth.nil.ilye..  
  
-Legends of Fantasy-  
  
Who am I? Are you sure you want to know? If somebody told you I was just your average guy, not a care in the world, somebody lied.  
No-I'm not a super-hero. I'm probably not even a hero. Sure, my name's not my real one; I have to hide my true identity; and no matter what I've done for them-what we've done for them-they've ended up hating us. So, yeah. That quote works.  
The story of my life. Do you really want to hear it?.  
  
Temporary tattoo. Shame. Water dripped down his hand from the washcloth placed on it. His right forearm. The one on his left was real. His gaze shifted to his right hand, eyes tracing the black scorpion forever resting on his skin. A silver-no, mithril-bracelet twisted silently on the lethal rendition of a tail hidden beneath bandages that went from palm to elbow, hiding also a tattoo in Cetra. His mother couldn't see them: she wasn't the right species. That made life a little easier. But, for now, his mind was on that bracelet. Forged by the Hero of Time just for him. All because he helped the Hyluian with a problem.  
"I lie inside myself for hours! And watch my purple sky fly over me." He sang along to the radio. Mix 96, of course. A ding from above the fridge told him breakfast was ready. Breakfast at ten. Much too late, but he'd been exhausted. He'd even slept for a decent five hours. About five more than usual. He turned around from the sink, reached up to the microwave and pulled out the box of Bagel Bites. Your typical teenager. The woman wasn't home so what she didn't know couldn't hurt him.  
He turned his attention from metal to pepperoni, yet solace was not to be found even in mini-pizza. His mind turned still to Falco and those connected events two nights ago.  
  
"Adross is looking for an Aaron Seijun."  
"Why?" He slid up onto the white top of his best friend's dresser, hands propping him up from behind.  
"Because he's in the way. Adross needs to get rid of him to get to all those he protects. Sorren, Link. All of them. So-if you see an Aaron Seijun, tell him that." He nodded as he watched the Blue-Jay Anthromorphic walk away.  
"You know, Aaron, the reason Fox was captured," the voice of his captain hit his ears. "Is you." He stood back up and turned around, watching the dark scorpion come to life as his fingers gripped the wood to make tendons bulge. The pirate continued on, "He wouldn't tell Adross your location. So they tortured him. For three hundred years. They would have tortured him even after he told. Still, your location was kept secret. Ironic, isn't it? While you're out rescuing the anthro who was being tortured so you could take care of Link, Link was being very literally stabbed in the back. Doesn't that just make you feel like a million bucks?"  
Aaron said nothing. What was there to say? His old friend Fox McCloud was turned cyborg-a poor job, too-because of him. He shuddered at the thought of mechanics for a phobia he'd no idea of how it had been acquired. One hand unwittingly clenched the hilt of his sword-the Muraisame-and suddenly he knew what he had to do. His captain could have Adross. He and Fox's father had been good friends. His captain could hold tickets to Adross' killing for all he cared-just so long as Ganondorf was his.  
The two had been in cahoots all along. No wonder on the ship he'd been nervous, thinking something amiss. Aaron's thoughts were bitter as he struck out on his own, away from Gondor. Years of practice and nessecity had taught him how to use his weathered heavy boots to his silent advantage as he snuck through the memorized streets of the White City.  
Glancing over his shoulder to see that nothing was there, he jogged up to the Gates. With a glare towards the guards, they opened for him and revealed a vast expanse of rain-drenched ground. No longer needing to maneuver around puddles, Aaron broke into a sprint. Agility and speed stemming from birth and experiences; Elvish rapidity; vampirism and sheer adrenaline made for a powerful combination.  
A swirling blue and purple light in the distance brought him to pour on the gas. The Gateway was still hazy; from the pouring rain or from what lay behind it he wasn't sure. His boots splashed water away from him in what was almost a rooster-tail. With equal force and velocity he was knocked off them. He landed on his back, a skinny yet hard form on top of him aiding in the muddy slide.  
Light entered his eyes, making them flash an ethereal green. Aaron's mouth open in a feral snarl despite already recognizing who had thrown him. His own best friend. The Catadarian's black ears pressed flat against her skull, tail lashing behind her. He drew back a fist and she hissed, reminding him of who she was. "Listen!" Aaron snorted defiantly though his arm stayed, unable to swing at someone he thought of as a sister.  
"No! You listen to me, Kaen! I 'gotta job to do!" Something registered in her emerald eyes that silenced him. "I know! I know exactly what you're thinking!" She shouted over the rain, the dramatics however having no effect. Aaron turned his head, knowing he couldn't deny her statement. Mud coated his cheek, covering up the sword- shaped scar adorning it. "But so does Link! He's the one who sent me!" Aaron's pointed ears flicked back, dark yellow tail falling subdued onto the wet earth. The fire in his eyes was extinguished as they closed. "Please! Just hear what he has to say!" Aaron tipped his head. "Fine."  
  
The Hero of Time looked nothing like his title. Blood glistened on his bandages and his eyes were closed. His face was pale and drawn. Aaron could feel his canines elongate with hunger. He hadn't eaten in a week. He shook the feeling with a deep swallow, kneeling down by the elf's bed. He swallowed again, not wanting to believe what he was seeing. "Link?." Link winced slightly, turning his head to Aaron with obvious difficulty. "Aaron." He choked on the words slightly. "I know that you, were going blindly to Ganondorf's castle. Believe me, you don't know what you're up against. Ganondorf will use you, like, like he used me. He'll take that which you hold dear and use it to make you do his bidding. Please, don't let your emotions control you." Aaron shook his head, eyes still blazing. "Link, I." Link grabbed his arm with his good hand, squeezing the bicep hard. Aaron's ears twitched again at the sound of crunching bone. Desperation ruled out any strength in the Hyluian's blue gaze and Aaron felt his resolve falter. "I don't want to loose you. Like I lost Malon. You remind me so much of her.... You were both reckless. You both loved horses." A smile played at the corners of the drifter's mouth. "He did that to them, Aaron. Ganondorf burned the Kokiri forest. He killed them all." Aaron drew back, disbelieving what he was watching. Tears fell down Link's face as he talked, his expression that of a man who'd lost everything. Aaron gripped Link's shoulder with one hand. "I'll kill Ganondorf. I promise you I will." Link shook his head. "Only the Master Sword can kill him." Aaron's eyes searched the room for answers, knowing already there were none to be found. "Can't another sword hurt him? at least!" The Elf's head shook again, sweat-soaked bangs swaying gently. "Take my sword. Take it and kill Ganondorf." Link's eyes closed and his head fell to one side as he slipped into unconsciousness. Aaron drew the blanket away to reveal Link's legendary sword: the blade he alone could wield. Aaron drew it from its decorated scabbard in a dreamlike state and slid it back to undo the sheath from equally crafted baldric. He placed this across his own chest, the hilt resting against one shoulder. "I'll be here when you wake up." His eyes closed. "What am I doing?" As he knelt there in a state of incredulity, Kaen approached him, a disconcerted look on her face. As he eyes met hers, she said only one thing. "There's a man at the gates looking for the wielder of the Master Sword."  
Aaron nodded and stood slowly, eyes staring down space with unmatched intensity. He turned from the bedside and made his way out the door. The shops, the people, the stands became a peripheral blur. It was he now who held the sword just as it was he whose duty it was to finish Ganondorf.  
"I wasn't expecting you."  
Aaron smirked.  
"Who were you expecting?"  
Ganondorf looked him over. "Link."  
"Yeah, well it's me whose 'gonna kill you." The man in black laughed.  
"You haven't even the Triforce!" The vampire just snorted. Ganondorf's eyes narrowed into his. Aaron drew his sword. "I'll kill you like I killed Link's father." The other's eyes widened, mouth falling open.  
  
"You killed his father?"  
Ganondorf shrugged.  
"Oh, Link did what I told him. He did more in fact. But I killed Daddy anyway." Aaron's eyes flashed, ears going back. His tail twitched in anticipation.  
"Are you 'gonna keep talking or attack me?"  
Ganondorf shook his head. "Your arrogance will be your downfall." The demon unsheathed his sword and hacked towards Aaron. Aaron blocked, but barely, Ganondorf's blade shrieking off his own. He limped backwards, a wound on his thigh reopening. He gave a grimace, muscles in that leg starting to shake with pain. He grunted under his breath, regaining his balance an instant ere Ganondorf came at him again. Aaron parried the blow and was knocked to one side.  
He shook his head and righted himself once more. Ganondorf snickered, watching the half-elf pant. He put away his sword and raised his hands, the fingers melting into claws, about to pit magic against steel. Aaron cried out as the dark orbs were hurled towards him. He ducked to one knee and swung at them with his sword. The vampire jumped back up and sidestepped, a second blast only nicking his blade to send him spinning. He twirl-stepped into a tree, a red gash appearing where his neck met his traps. Blood trickled from the cut and into his collar, darkening the fabric even more. His eyes rolled white. His mind had never fully healed after what he had seen all those years ago. The fact was that right now he was scared out of his wits. "Are you just going to keep blocking me?" Ganondorf mocked. "You're to cowardly to even attack me." Aaron's chest heaved, beads of sweat staining his bangs. Ganondorf moved forward, trying to catch his shoulder as he rested his sword against the bark. Aaron pushed off, drawing the blade across to meet him. "Anticipating my move." the demon observed. Aaron feinted to buy himself time to recover. Ganondorf shook his head.  
"I know one thing for certain. You're no Hero of Time." Something  
seemed to spark in those wild eyes. Some of what he'd lost appeared to  
return to them. The hybrid straightened, putting both hands on the sword in front of him. He stalked forward and gave a swing towards Ganondorf's stomach, the demon forced to draw his sword again. As the two stood off and stared at each other, Ganondorf smirked. "Let's see if you can hold it." Aaron drew a deep breath and sheathed the Muraisame slowly. He set his jaw, one hand going behind his back to clench around the Master Sword's tooled hilt. He brought it from the scabbard and stared at its engraved blade, his own face reflected in the metal. "Only one thing is certain." his voice was hard. "Expect the unexpected." Aaron pushed off one foot and dug the sword in, the blade's bite deep. He wrenched it free of the demon's flesh, Ganondorf falling back. The vampire's lips drew back in a snarl, elongated teeth glistening in the moonlight. Seeing the loathed other still gasping in ragged breaths, Aaron drove the sword into his chest. As he pulled it out again, he heard Kaen's gentle voice behind him. "Now, you need to banish him." Aaron wheeled around. "I have to what? I don't know how to do that!" Kaen shook her head placating. "All you have to do is stab him in the head." She brought a hand up warningly. "But-you need a reason." Aaron was silent for many moments, one hand steadying himself on a branch. "I have many reasons." Kaen nodded and left him to his task. Aaron tightened his grip around above the hand guard and walked forth. Ganondorf's immobile form was sprawled on the ground before him, rain spattering off of it. He stopped by the demon's broad shoulder, solemnly watching blood swirl around his boot. He looked back to the dark figure, raising the sword high. His voice was taut. "For his father." Water dripped down the blade, mixing red in the instant before it plunged down, finding its mark with a sickening crunch. Aaron brought it out with one hand, wiping its blade free of gore on a limb by his chest. "Not good enough to live."  
  
The door swept open in near-sanctum silence, a shaft of light illuminating Link's placid form before Aaron entered its beam to kneel once more at the Elf's bedside, head bowed as he played quietly with a silvery bracelet. "He's gone, Link. He's gone."  
  
"Very good, Daitan. A bit farfetched, though, don't you think?" The girl swallowed hard, a smile threatening to form on her face as she held the hand-written papers. Her gaze traveled to a blonde-haired Goth who hid her mouth behind one hand. She shook her head gently and turned back to the librarian, pretending to ignore the sign saying "Youth Fantasy Stories" in big, friendly letters. "What, exactly was it about?." The writer bit her lower lip, finding it ever harder not to laugh. Link of Hyrule! How obvious was that. Nevertheless, she answered. "Most of that, you know, the Triforce, Link, the Master Sword and Ganondorf was from," a pause indicated the word 'duh' without its use, "Legends of Zelda. Adross, Fox, Falco," Snort. Snicker. "from StarFox and the White City, Gondor-Lord of the Rings!" She glanced in amusement back to the goth. "The rest, I. Made up." She jerked her head and the goth got to her feet. "That was pretty bad." Daitan muttered. The other shrugged. "What did you expect? Jeez! They aren't exactly the brightest species on Earth." The duo's attention was drawn away as a boy approached. He looked to be only twelve with brown hair, eyes and freckles. Daitan's ears seemed to swivel back. The boy stared straight up at her, an armful of library books against his chest. "That guy sounded a lot like you." He narrowed his eyes. "Who are you, really?" Daitan smirked, blue eyes flashing. "Are you sure you 'wanna know?."  
  
=Illusion I=  
-u n f o r g i v e n -  
  
Aug. 18, 17, 203 A.D. I've done everything in my power to redeem myself of that day. It took me long enough to realize that redemption is not for me. I should have realized that sooner. In the few weeks ago when I was strapped to a table. When. He. Was cutting into me. Or when I was on the bike. Or when I was watching myself blow the boy's head to the gods. Whatever iniquity came to life. I should have known then. I should have known. But - now isn't the time. Nothing that I ever do will make this stop. From this dream - this nightmare - I won't ever wake. I've been exiled from the solace of Imaginary and have been chained to Hell's Reality. No - nothing I can do in the forever I'm forced to live can erase the actions of that day.  
  
His - its - words won't shatter my heart. I lost my heart long ago. So I suppose that they can drive me insane at their will. I can't find salvation for what happened that day. Nothing can change those words; nothing can pay for them. But maybe, just maybe, I can prove myself to them. I made just one mistake that night. I failed to realize just one thing. My sins may have been forgiven, but not forgotten.  
  
=Reality 1=  
-p a p e r.f l o w e r s-  
  
"Your will is hanging by a thread." "I could have handled it." "Really? I saw everything. You had your head on his chest with your ear on his heart. He was asleep, just like he was now. You nuzzled up to him and kissed him on the neck." "Whoa, w-" "Ah. You kissed him on the neck. Tempting. You kissed his neck again. Tempting. You did it again. One fang brushed over him. You opened your mouth and brushed your teeth across his soft, smooth skin. One of your canines cut across his neck, drawing blood. He groaned. You licked off the blood, wishing more would flow. You would have bitten him if you weren't interrupted." "Do you enjoy this?"  
  
She opened her mouth wide, grinned ferally and shoved mouthful after mouthful of chocolate cereal into her mouth. The Canadian on the chair beside her looked up from his usual paper and raised an eyebrow. "Can you eat that any faster?" Lips pursed to keep the food in; she shot him a pitiful look. He smiled: an expression you wouldn't expect to find on the jean clad 'teach. "Oh, go ahead. I know how much you like chocolate." She smiled gratefully and went on chomping.  
  
"My Guide says he's made of adamantium." "Adamantium." Her memory activated like a dictionary. She'd heard the word before, long ago. "Metal." The man below their vantage point snarled and sniffed at the air. She growled lowly, red ears going back. He was an animal. Just like her. One white hand went to her gun. The man was talking with another: one in a wheel chair who looked like a bookkeeper. She knew this one. Knew him well. Professor Charles Xavier. With him also was the blue demon they'd been tracking. What were these two doing with the Prof? What were they planning? Logan. The professor called the man 'Logan'. The dictionary in her faded mind activated. She repeated the name. Then decided that it was Canadian. Or maybe the man was. She motioned for her crew to stay put as she slid down the small incline. There was a metallic Snikt! and metal claws about a foot long pierced from behind the man's knuckles. Her eyes flashed wide. The man was suddenly in front of her. "Who are you?" His dark eyes narrowed into her red shades. "My name's Wolverine." She blinked, lowering her taut stance slightly. The name registered. She'd heard it before. "Wolfy." It was his turn. His fists relaxed and his expression turned to surprise. "What. Did you call me?." Her face broke out into a bright smile, elongated canines showing. "Wolfy! WolfyWolfyWolfy!" She cried out and barreled into his arms. The man's- Logan's-claws retracted as he grabbed her into a hug. The metal in his bones pressed hard into the jagged wound at her side, making her opt for a grimace. He chuckled slightly and held her tighter. "Hey, kid! 'Where 'ya been?" She laughed. "In Neo-Midgar!"  
  
The Canadian peered at her again. She'd polished off the bowl and was now staring off into space. "Daitan? Daitan?" She blinked, started and looked over to him. "Nothing Logan. A whole 'lotta nothing."  
  
In all honesty, she wasn't listening. The woman was jabbering on about rent. Sure, Daitan was in a tight fix. In a few weeks, school would start up again. If her grades were dead, they'd go to Florida. I've survived a few thousand yeas with some damn ugly bugs with bad attitudes. No way I'm leaving now when I just got back home. She looked up to the radio: nothing good. Mix 96. Always a gamble. But that still didn't help the fact there was nothing on. Her ears twitched. This was irritating. She'd been a drifter too long. She'd lost all her dreams. But she had a reason, didn't she? After they'd all had their skulls cracked open they forgot everything.  
  
All Daitan knew was she had three other kids. Somewhere. They were hard to forget. Their pictures were saved from a watery grave by being shoved in her boot. Somewhere out there was Skye, Alex, Essence. The kids and. Him. Her treasure. She did know that every time she stared at the stars she was certain that there was more out there. She felt like she had a better understanding of what was going on up there then she ever would down here. Then she got all her answers. She'd been home for two days. So why did she still feel lost? "Maybe because only yesterday I helped save the world from complete destruction and nobody even knows I exist?" Daitan asked the air where she lay in one of the beds Charlie's lobby held. She looked down to where her boots were still spattered with mud. She'd taken Logan's 'baby' for a real late or real early ride `round 4:30. She sighed, unable to move. If she did, the electricity from her latest escapade that still remained coiled in her muscles would send a jolt through her. How she'd gotten from the outside training field to a makeshift bed inside the Mansion was a complete loss. She'd blacked out. "Rose probably dragged me." she muttered, remembering seeing Rose and Sorren telling her moving was an excruciatingly dumb idea. Daitan sighed, grimaced and went back to imagining a completely different scenario of how she arrived here. Sorren picked her up gently. Her head rolled against his chest. He brushed a shock of blonde bangs from her face and stroked her cheek with his fingers before leaning close to- "Actually, Rose did drag you in. By your foot." Charles Xavier wheeled in next to the cot with a smile. Daitan groaned and looked at him sideways. "You're no fun." The Professor laughed as she took a minute to realize the fantasy had made her mouth water. "And you're slurring." he chastised. "`Whaddyou want?" Xavier laughed. "I wanted to see how you were doing. You should be like this for a half an hour more." Daitan rolled her eyes. "Oh, goody." She glanced at him again. "And stay out of my head." "I didn't need to. I know that smile. That was the Sorren smile. And that was the Sorren slur." Daitan side-glanced him. "You're awful." Daitan stared off. Everything became a blur. It used to be she only wanted question answered. Does being a hero mean you have to kill people? Now she wanted to know: Is being a hero possible? Those words would never leave her. I know one thing for certain. You are no Hero of Time.  
  
=Illusion II=  
-u n f o r g o t t e n -  
  
Feb. 26, 25,715 A.D. I am finally punished for my sins. Dead delivery of words. Relentless yet graceful way of moving. Cold, see- all eyes. Emotionless way of killing. I used to be a soldier. Now I'm a terminator. Red would cross my face at the slightest remark; I hated myself for having to kill. Now I'll blow your head off without a second thought or blink. The only thing separating us- the gang of friends lost to our family from robots is weakness. It once was that if we had our buttons pushed, we'd let it slide. Now we'll take you out. We seem indestructible. But, now, there's a kill switch. A button that if pushed could bring to ruin at least myself. I'm no hero. I'm no terminator. The scariest fact of all, however, is that I know it. And there's nothing I can do about it. I saved the world and nobody knows I exist. If being a hero means you have to kill people, what happens when no one knows you killed. I don't know what to do any longer. For eight thousand years I've wanted salvation. For eight thousand years I've wanted to prove my name. Now I'm damned. I have no just cause to explain murder. Sins forgiven yet not forgotten are not forgiven at all.  
  
=Reality 2=  
-m y.s u i c i d e -  
  
Daitan polished off the quart of fruit punch and looked out over the cup. "Softie." She threw Wolverine a glare. "I'm not a softie." "Only softies have kids." Her eyes narrowed. She threw her hands up. "They were quite literally thrown at me!" A young boy with dark hair and enchanting eyes looked at her painfully as he walked by.  
"Mom!" He protested looking beat. Daitan's mouth dropped as she tried to make up for her statement. Logan simply gave her a look.  
"I'm. `Gonna go to my room."  
"Essence!" she cried, started after a few steps, and then looked to Logan. He shrugged. He didn't have any answers. Without warning, he blinked slightly and looked over her head.  
"Better catch your kid." She gave him a look. "He's got your motorcycle."  
Daitan grimaced and raced off in search of the Mansion's garage. Most of it was there: the X-Van, Scott's ride, and a few of the gang's bikes. Rested against a wall was Logan's Harley. At any other time, she would have traced her fingers along the handlebars, but not now. Not when her baby was out there. She'd just soaped it down, too! In no time, Daitan was roaring down the drive and into the woods. Her path took her to an orange and red circular swirl. She revved the engine, gave a snort and tore through the Portal into Cosmo Canyon. She stalled the bike and glanced about, eyes coming to rest on a familiar and beloved sight. A crimson mix that appeared to be part lion, part dog. "Hey, Daitan!" "Hey, Red. Have you seen Essence?" she asked, looking the mix over. Red XII nodded, then tipped his head toward a tower. "He's in the Observation Tower. The one Grandpa used to use." Daitan smiled, thanked him and walked towards it. She pushed open one of the doors and went inside, headed to the stairs.  
"Hi, sweety." She gave a start and looked up from the floor to see Sorren.  
"What are you doing here?" she asked, looking him over. His dark hair moved over his shoulders as he shrugged. "I came to see Essence, but he looked like he wanted to be alone, so I left him." Daitan nodded and continued on.  
"Softie." She groaned slightly, rolled her eyes to the ceiling. Logan. What could he possibly need? Before she could enter their usual heated debate, her captain arrived. Logan sent him to talk to her son as he spoke with her.  
"Logan, what do you-" He put a hand up.  
"Just hear what the kid has to say."  
Daitan's crimson dog-ears drew back then pricked forward to catch the conversation.  
  
"Why don't you talk to your mom?"  
"Not to be a killjoy, but she just doesn't seem like the kind of person who would listen. I shouldn't have been eavesdropping. I heard her and Logan talking. He said only softies have kids. She said we were thrown at her. She never wanted to have kids. I was just a mistake." "It's not my place to say, but she was sort of the same way. She does love you." "You know, when we're young and not told what to believe or think, or what our parents tell us, we know there's something more. I know what I heard. Now you tell me what to believe."  
  
Daitan's ears twitched back, red lines showing on the bridge of her nose.  
  
"You see, a long time ago, when my mom and dad were gone, I met this girl. She was horrifically beautiful and I thought she was the one, I thought she wanted to stay with me forever. Well, one night, I did something. I gave her something I can never get back. . I've got a theory on humanity. Everyone's selfish, in one way even if they don't even know it."  
  
Daitan's teeth clenched; sweat forming on her brow. You know you're in trouble when your son gets laid at a younger age then you did. She shook her head violently before tipping it against her chest, crestfallen.  
She finally awoke from the nightmare in her head when Logan elbowed her. "`You hear that?'  
"I have ears." She brought those ears against her head.  
My oldest had a girl feelin' him up at ten, my youngest was done at- what-fourteen? Gods know about the other two. Me? I wasn't normal till-I don't know! I never wanted them to go through life in theoretical shackles, but I never wanted this!  
She was still in her head when Essence came down and informed them he was going for a ride.  
Daitan walked off, resting her hands against the seat of the Harley. "Yeah. That's a good idea. I'm `gonna go for a ride. `Later." Instead of throwing a leg over the bike, she leaned against it, falling to the ground.  
  
"What are you taking?" Logan asked. Daitan put a hand over her head.  
"I think I'm just `gonna sit down. I've got a juice-over."  
Wolverine nodded.  
"You know, Logan, the reason I tell my kids don't curse, don't drink- fill in the blanks! .Is because I didn't want them ending up like me. I didn't want this for them. You know, I was told to protect them. To train them. And I could do that. I mean, sometimes I was hired out as a bodyguard. I could protect them. I could train them. But, then. Something went wrong. I started to love them." Wolverine nodded again.  
"That's what every parent wants." Daitan sighed. Shook her head. Logan's gaze traveled over the surrounding forest they'd come to. A low hiss appeared behind them.  
"The Nine have come to these woods." The hiss sounded again. Daitan looked over her shoulder to see a dark figure. A Nazgûl. "Shut up." Wolverine's eyes widened as he gave a laugh.  
  
"You just told a Ringwraith to shut up!" Daitan shrugged and looked at it again. Only one. Why didn't it attack? Where were the Nine? Suddenly, her eyes widened. The wraith was gone. This didn't pass by the Wolverine. "That wraith was here, then vanished." Before anything could be figured out, the connection between worlds was broken and she was back in a closet staring at a green-and-gray portal. She didn't listen to much of what happened till her best friend asked her the one question she wanted to hear. "You want to head back?" Daitan nodded and the two found themselves back in that same forest. "What's up, Yugi?" Daitan murmured blandly. The other's black ears laid back as she pointed into the trees. "Hey! There's the Nine!" Daitan's dark yellow tail twitched. "What do they want?" "They look like they're tracking something. I wouldn't worry." Daitan's blue eyes narrowed into her friend's. "My son's in there." Yugi stared back, giving their surroundings a glance. "He's not in there, is he?" "I don't know. Get on back." The icy cat's eyes of her friend widened. "They're using him to lure you!" Daitan straddled the bike, kicked the stand and waited for her friend's arms to come around her waist before taking off. Trees, logs, rocks and foliage all became a blur. The ground sped in multiple hues under them, the path leading to one location. "Mom!" Essence's cry hit the air in a mixture of fright and disbelief. Daitan dug one foot into the ground, bringing the bike around in a screeching semi-circle halt. "Hey! Asshole!" she crowed. "Black's pretty tacky, you know!" The wraiths shrieked and came flying after her. With a snarl, she jammed her heel into the earth, sending the bike off once more. The back wheel fishtailed, spewing dirt and rocks in all directions before a tug on the handlebars straightened it out. The wraiths fanned out behind her, trying to circle around. The youth behind her cried out again. There were metallic ziiing!'s from all sides as the few undrawn swords came loose from their sheathes. Daitan's elbow swiped a tree-trunk as they turned a corner. The Harley revved disapproval at such manhandling till she put a foot down to steady the machine. They swayed thirty yards and straightened out once more. The immense blacked out form of hellish horse and rider appeared in her peripheral vision. A line of trees made for small passage. Daitan threw her weight back and kicked off the ground with both feet to ride up on the back wheel to make it through. There were howls and trumpets as the thunder of hooves moved to opposite sides. A felled log: victim of some ancient storm blocked a clear straightaway. The bikers barreled down onto it, and at the last moment a heavy boot was thrust out, forcing the motorcycle to turn savagely. The hind wheel spun out, then righted itself. The path right was blocked by the Riders. "Rose!" Daitan hollered. "Fly on home!" There was a violent beat of wings and a frustrated scream. "Essence! Hop on back!" The trip had been round-a- bout, taking them back to her son. Daitan's eyes narrowed as her foot let off the ground, the bike's pent up momentum sending it into space. It hit the ground with a jar and was immediately jerked one way to avoid a horse, Daitan's knee scraping by the ground the only thing preventing a total crash. As the bike was righted, she skirted one of the Black Riders, only to speed into another. She pulled on the handlebars, throwing the motorcycle in the opposite direction. A sword came flying at her, getting her right below the ribcage and punching out the front of her tunic. The fast movement from both parties yanked it out of her side, spraying blood over the boy behind her.  
  
"She's hit!" Daitan gave a low, surprised groan as she felt something tear. Shock ran through her body, making feeling impossible. She up righted the bike and passed by, only to find escape halted by three of the Nazgûl. Her jaw dropped as the bike skidded to a stop. Essence leapt out from behind her, making an energy long-sword. It wasn't fire, but it was hot. Since it was no true blade, any blow against the creatures could do the boy no harm. "Essence!" She yelled, "Get back here!" The young Elf shook his head. "No! For once I'm not going to listen to you!" Daitan's eyes narrowed, taking on a red glow. "Get back here or I'll blast you." Essence looked to her with his father's eyes. "Would you?" "Yes!" "You taught me how to take care of them!" He brought his sword around in an arc, magic meeting steel. He pushed his sword down across the metal blade, swung it around and crashed it into the 'arm' of one of the things. It hollered, surprised at the magic's bite. Using timing to his advantage, Essence brought the sword down hard into the creature. Even as it fled, he sidestepped around, copied the maneuver and scattered the other two. Essence clambered back onto the bike and put his arms around his mother's torso, feeling where it was wet and warm on the right. "Are you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine. Let's just get you home." The boy's blue eyes widened. He shook his head, starting to softly cry as strands of his mother's platinum hair whipped at his face like a mane, so reflecting her nickname. The name on the WANTED posters. Daredevil. "I didn't mean what I said. It's just. When I'm angry I say stuff I don't mean." "Forget it." "I just." Daitan glanced over her shoulder; blonde bangs covering up bullshooter eyes. The two feathers stuck into her headband flapped every which way. "I love you." She looked at him a few moments more before turning to the road ahead.  
  
They pulled into the garage without much fuss, the kickstand going down. Daitan looked her son over, voice gruff with pain. "`You okay?" Essence nodded. "All right. Let's get you some water." The two walked over to a soda-pop machine. Daitan gave it a stout kick six inches from the dispenser, bringing out a water bottle. She handed this to the boy and continued off. Logan approached her from the side and looked to her waist. "You should get that fixed." Whatever color had been in her face drained out of it. Her eyes had grown foggy. "I'm fine." She murmured. "All I need is some water." And everything went black.  
  
:  
  
"He's going to fight Lancelot to become a knight!" "Brenix has seen more battles than any of us." "I have waited for you to come." "Dare, where are you going?" "He reminds me of someone. Someone who betrayed me long ago. I can't stand to watch." "Wait. Brenix has long blonde hair. His is short and brown." "Who are you really?" "He's an imposter! The real duel is not to start for an hour!" "Answer me!" "They call me Mukouki. I'm here to see Daitan." "It can't be." "I'm sorry, to see her you need an appointment." "Tsume! You wanted to see me! Here I am!" "Why Lancelot, didn't you know it's not nice to hit a youth?" "You were with Seiun all along, weren't you? You used me! You were one of the people who did this to my eyes! You were one of the people who put this thing around my neck!" "You've changed much, Sutoraito. How do you know these people won't use you?" "I guess I'll just have to trust them." "He has the Tiger's Eye!" "This is my battle! Earthquake!" "He's hurt!" "I knew you couldn't do this on your own." "Ultimicia! They've fused together!"  
  
"If I loose to you now, I have no right to be Cloud's trainee." "You'll leave?." "Albert!" "Daitan, you need to learn to use your Dragoon power like a partner, not a weapon. If you do not, then you will fail." "He will attack your heart." "Now Lancelot, to finish you off." "To get to him, you need to get through me." "His weakness! Strike now!" "For Andre!" "It's over." "I need to see to Lancelot." "Are you all right? I'm sorry. It's my fault he came." "If you left, I don't know what would happen." "Life would go on." "I hear what you say at night. I sleep across the hall. You're not a horrible person. It's like you told Vincent. Hojo was a monster. Who ever did this to you was horrible. Not you." "Arthur! I think she's ready." "Kneel down before me." "Daitan, do you know where you are?" "Oh great. They're `gonna chop off my head. Kurt, get me out of here." "This is the knighting room." "I think Maximus should be here for this." "Now I know I'm getting it." "You're about to be knighted!" "To be knighted without dueling Lancelot is a supreme honor. It shows great courage, strength and will." "I don't deserve this! The blue fuzzy man should be getting this!" "As Cloud is my witness, I, Arthur Pendragon dub thee Sir Daitan of the Round Table. Arise, Sir Daitan."  
  
:  
  
"Cloud told you to protect him, now he is dead!" Daitan Seijun looked over the indignant face of Gondor's king. Her chest heaved, tunic slick with sweat. Blood dripped down over one eye. She looked past Aragorn to the lifeless body of the Elf Legolas Greenleaf. A knife was plunged into his back. Aragorn's steel-hued eyes bored into hers.  
"Legolas' death is your fault. You swore you'd protect him from any harm, yet you let her use and betray him. Traitor I call you. "Coward. "Murderer." The word was taken up by the band surrounding. "Murderer."  
  
"Murderer." Murderer. Murderer. murderer..  
  
She awoke with a start, flying immediately into a sitting position upon the black leather couch. She panted, coated in a cold sweat. murderer. murderer. mukerer.. mukouki. The word turned into a name as empty darkness greeted her. There was no fair face with enchanting green eyes peering at her with concern, no gentle hand to stroke her blonde bangs from panicked eyes. Those eyes were now white, a red glow staining the pinprick pupils that stared at an unilluminated executioner. Mukouki. He had been used all along in Ultimicia's quest for power. Mukouki, yes, but not Gin. Never Gin. She betrayed Daitan on her own. Daitan had seen Mukouki with her own eyes in Gin's arms; her partner kissing her second-in-command. Part of her still cared for Mukouki. Half of her was still Sutoraito. There was still some of her three days ere that hadn't wanted to kill brujo. She buried her face in a beaten pillow, hot tears falling onto the fabric. Her screams were silent: heard only by the multitudes of none. Thoughts cavorted and inevitably conquered her head. Why was she made a Knight of the Round? Why did Mukouki use her? Why was she second-in-command of Rome's army? The Eternal City itself! She did not deserve such positions. Less a number than those who heard her cries answered back. Only one clear idea prevented itself. Daitan drew forth from the couch and walked into a dark room: an unlit kitchen with a bedroom attached to it. On the floor beside a bed lofted off the ground by crates, she found a roll of linen. Grabbing this, she walked out and through a tiny hall, coming into the bathroom. Not bothering to flip the light switch, the half-elf reached into the cabinet, coming across a sharp, clear sliver of glass saved just for this purpose and the ones nights before. Raising the shard to her deltoid, she sliced open marks across the tattoo. No harm would come to the four letters. Tattoos were frightfully hard to scrape from the flesh. Again and again, stripes of red formed on her shoulder, frustration, anger and betrayal coming down her arm in crimson rivulets. No matter how deep the glass bit, over old cut or newly formed, no pain was felt. Her mind was elsewhere. This nightmare was only the first of many, both in wake and in sleep.  
  
She panted, frantic eyes searching the darkness. Two days with no food. No water. Only torment. Her arms were strapped over his head to the damp stone wall. Her feet were bound below her. Sweat trickled and glistened over the curves of muscle and bangs. When? When would he come? When would it start again? Step. Draaag. Step. Draaag. Step. Draaag. Her breath came now in shallow gasps, the gateways into her soul loosing any grasp of humanity to glow with a primal terror. Step.Draaag. Step. Draaag. Step.Draaag. She couldn't scream. Couldn't cry. A rope was wedged between her teeth, red shimmering over dried blood. Step. Draaag. Step. Draaag. Step.Ching. That small sound marked the passage into oblivion. The metal-wrought door of this Tartarus swung slowly open, a light coming into her eyes and driving her pupils into nothing. The cold, chilling gleam of weaponry reflected off the eye of another. An eye not yellow, not orange nor even red. An eye the very color of wakeful nightmares. The eye of one from Hell.  
  
Die. Die. Die. She was on her stomach. Her back seethed still. Her shirt was off, bandages encasing her torso. She flinched slightly as Legolas' arm came around her, above her belt. The Elf rested his cheek against her shoulder lightly, making her skin wet. The cuts across the muscle cried out as salt entered them. As the Mirkwood stroked the coils and hair-triggers from her back, she eased into darkness. More wetness. It struck her queer that her back was suddenly so warm. And wet. She rose up on one elbow, eyes hasting to widen. Legolas rested heavily on his hands above the half-breed, blood not only dripping from his nose and mouth but also had formed into a very shirt of deep crimson-black. Everywhere countless slashes-perfectly etched into his person-spilled forth precious life. The lacerations themselves were not wounds from war. Yes, they were deliberate. They had purpose. Yet here, their creator had a care of what fate befell the victim. These were wounds designed to let him live one day more. And then one day after. These were wounds designed to allow him to live to receive more. The Elf's fair face was drawn violently back; angel-eyes clamped shut, ears drawn back, hair awry, mouth drawn away from his teeth in what was not a grimace of agony but a silent snarl of defiance. His eyes shot open, mirroring in their screaming depths her horrified expression. His lips smoothed in an agonizing yet all-together caring smile. She finally realized the significance of the prince's defiance. It was his life or hers. As tears stung her gaze, she looked past the gasping Elf to see a man sheathed in black. An old-fashioned hat shrouded his features. One black claw raised up past a fierce smile to push the brim upward. The eyes that bored into hers were the eyes of a demon. The thing's grin grew ever wider. "You swore to kill me. What makes you so sure, O arrogant youth that you might succeed where others stronger than you have for centuries failed? "As I have told you, yes. I did do all this to your precious friend. As I told you, I wanted to make a monster of him. To drive him beyond reasonable hope and hope of reason. Yet, even so, I could not. He was taken too soon. "That power is not yours. You will have to give it back. Give it back soon. All those creaks you heard last night? All those half-heard indicators of movement just around the corner? That was me. I wanted to see if all I'd heard of you was true. Oh, you are powerful yourself; I'll credit you with that. But when that time comes. "I will finish the job."  
  
"I just don't know what to do." The Ultima Weapon was heavy on her back. She paced back and forth over the spongy floor. She'd sworn to him she'd tell none of what had happened all those years ago. She'd sworn to him that she would protect the family. Let no harm be done. She alone had sworn the oath. Now it was her own to uphold, until death. "If I were you, I'd let him finish what he started." Logan muttered, growing irritated with her lack of a decision. She flew to her feet with a violence that surprised even the Wolverine. "I will not let that happen!"  
  
William Stryker stared into Logan's eyes. Logan had come for the truth and that was exactly what he was going to get, whether he wanted it or not. "People don't change, Wolverine. You were an animal then and you're an animal now. I just gave you claws."  
  
:  
  
Daitan Seijun stared out over the vast nothingness. In all directions there was desert. Simple sand and sky. No answers. No man in white. Just questions. Was her father who she thought he was? Was she indeed half- Elven? Was she part Demon? All those years ago in an abandoned warehouse somewhere in Japan. Was all this connected? When these things were placed into her eyes. Was there a greater reason than simple revenge? Was there an alternate reason for being locked for days in torture than blood-payment for events only fifty years ago? As the lash of a whip scored her mind, the sun began to raise over this nothing, forcing the switchblade in her mouth to glint angrily. Blood smeared over the tattoo on her left bicep, marring the detailed portrait. The leather around her calf hung in shreds, staying only by a buckle under the flaps of the boot. It was evidence of a firefight that would leave her far before she was any nearer to answers. As she recalled nightmares, she recalled also their meaning. It stuck her when she awoke that night why she respected the Elf so. She'd always been able to sense it, and now she knew what it was that she sensed. He was so. Pure. After all that had happened, he was still so. Happy. It didn't break him. It didn't turn him into a monster. An animal. Not like it had her. That aspect, that humanity was something she wanted to protect. One eye was drawn tighter than the other and boasted black, blue and purple. The irregular color of it: a piercing blue laced with veins of green had faded out. The dark azure around her pupil had all but disappeared, revealing the eye's true nature. A cat's eye: its pupil a mere slit. Could this be some token of her ancestry? or the leftover poisons of the nuclear explosion, as were the crimson ears on her head? Daitan's platinum hair had been torn from the cloth that bound it and hung now beyond the blades of her shoulders. The blonde bangs that had once been symmetrical and even hung in disarray over her eyes. Shards of glass still remaining within the strands shimmered like the prayer beads of jade bound about her neck that now rested against an olive green tank top. A dark brown long-sleeve shirt covered this, along with black jeans and combat boots. All the weaponry in her possession rested on some part of her person. Not a strip of clothing or weapon was without stains of gore, dust, mud, grass and gunpowder. All in all her appearance spoke one word: BountyHunter.  
  
=Illusion III=  
-u n b r e a k a b l e-  
  
Jan. 9, 25,715 A.D. All that I have ever known has turned out to be a lie. Or so I believe. How sad is it, to not know one's own life? My father may be my uncle, my best friend my sister, and my sire a Demon. The lie hidden between two truths could be the reason I am what I am. The truth could be the reason I am a monster. The truth. The actuality that may be could be also a lie. Perhaps the Truth with a capital "T" is meant for no man. Perhaps the truth would only break me further. It could be the reason I was lied to all of these years. The reason my appearance changed as well as mind. To prevent me from finding answers. Or, just as equally this could be solace for a desperate mind. In a handful of dawns to come, I go alone against certain doom in hopes that what is real and what is fallacy will be imparted to me. I do not know what end quails me more: to meet my destruction by sorcery or by accuracy.  
  
=Reality 3=  
-a l l.t h a t.r e m a i n s-  
  
Daitan sighed and looked up tiredly to the steadily riding sun. The transport was late. As usual. The bus would take her as far as the coast. He'd gone from this town, leaving only one sign that he'd ever been in the town at all. A single word drawn in red surrounded by bullet holes. Knives.  
  
The vampire resisted the urge too look over her shoulder at the dust-choked city just beyond the horizon. She gave a sigh and moved the blade to the front of her teeth where it swayed for a moment, not having her canines for an anchor. A distant rumble sounded the arrival of her bus. She pulled a silver .23 Mag out from the back of her dark leather belt. Tightening her hold on the metal in her teeth, Daitan flipped open the cartridge of the gun, looking inside to find one last bullet. This one even was a misfire. With an irritated snort, she put it away and walked toward the on-rushing transport. The vehicle sped by her, faces of all types melting together. The back-bar came into sight. She reached out and grabbed it, the bus' momentum carrying her over the rim. She took hold of it with her free hand, placing her boots flat. Daitan's eyes searched out the latch, blonde bangs whipping in her face. She put one hand underneath, raising it up with a chank. The door swung for a moment, allowing her to slide through and close it once more. The driver cried out, threatening to stop and throw her out. Daitan silently brought the Magnum out and pulled down the hammer. The driver instantly decided it really didn't matter whether or not she payed the fare. Daitan sighed and took a seat in the back, awaiting the time the ocean was in sight.  
  
There wasn't much different about the coastline. Gray sand and pebbles met gray-green water. An altogether dismal sight to behold. Daitan's boots crunched over the terrain as she tried hard to drive memories from her mind. The switchblade had been put into her pocket miles back. She stopped, tiny waves lapping at her boots. She brought her sword out from behind her back. Driving its crystalline blade into the ground, the hilt before her. She placed a hand on an aquamarine stone, fingers brushing its tooled surface. Her stark, emotionless voice broke the silent air. "I Summon Leviathan!" The calm waters abruptly surged and boiled as a sea-dragon of equal hue rose from them. The fins and spines adorning its crest rose and fell as it looked down at her. "What do you wish?" Daitan stared back, careless of the world beyond her destination. "The south island. Take me there."  
  
The temple wasn't that difficult to find. It was the small island's most obvious feature. Daitan gave a snort upon arrival, glancing about. Green- brown grass met a path that led up to stone steps: the entrance into the temple. It wasn't there she was headed. Instead, she stalked further to the right of the edifice, approaching a small window. With a sigh and a shake of the head, she placed her hands on the edge with a visible cringe, swinging her body up and in. The window took her into a small, open room. Not where she needed to be. Giving the place one glance more, Daitan walked out and into a narrow corridor. A look to both sides informed her that none was approaching. She raced down the hall, trying to keep the heavy ka-clunk of her boots to a minimum as she thought, the corridor turned abruptly. She skidded around a corner, laying a hand on the door. Another look about told her she was alone still. Daitan pushed the door open and gazed into a room lined with books, parchments and scrolls. She shut the door quietly and entered, eyes shifting rapidly. Catching something of interest, she sped towards it, looking for something written long before the present. Most were labeled something close to Sengoku Jidai. After what seemed like decades of searching, a book caught her eye. It seemed of green leather, thick with pages yellowed over ages. One word was etched in fading black ink on the cover. Daitan leaned closer, a drop of sweat darkening the leather. One hand reached forth, brushing the cover with her fingertips, mouth ajar in expectation. Youkai. Before she could look at what it contained, the door was thrust open. She wheeled around to stare into the face of an angry monk, bangs swishing across her eyes. He was dressed in typical Japanese garb, hair grayed over time. His eyes however lost none of their potency. "What are you doing here? You adorned to battle!" Daitan's eyes widened, surprised at his tone. "Be gone from this room! Go! go! shoo!" Now agitated, her eyes narrowed, dog-ears drawing back. She pulled the silver weapon from its place beside her hip, pointed the muzzle between the priest's eyes and brought the hammer down with her thumb. "No. Why don't I stay here? Savvy?" "You young ones are all the same. You think you're so bad and bold," The monk raised a hand and brought the muzzle down, taking it out of her grasp. Daitan stared on, gape-mouthed. With his other hand, he smacked her against opposite sides of her face. "Always interloping and sticking your noses where they don't belong." He dropped the gun and it clattered to the ground. In the time it took for the revolver to stop wavering, the monk was gone. Daitan, still speechless, stepped forward and bent to retrieve the fallen weapon. Its form was strangely heavy in her hands, the light reflecting off seeming to take on its own lethal glow. She turned it over slowly, suddenly highly respectful of this deadlier object. On the other side of the long muzzle was placed a note in elegant kanji. Once again, only a single word stood out. Rakuseki.  
  
Seijun marched defiantly over the dust-laden trail. Ironically, it led to a garden that blended with the rest of the foliage covering the island. A shadow stood alone amidst the darkness. This shadow seemed dimmer than all the rest. As the others lilted in a sudden breeze, this one moved not an inch. Dare knew it immediately as she pulled the .23 out, directing it towards the unlit thing. "Rakuseki! Show your face!" A dank laughter sounded from the gloom. "You would not be able to withstand it." Those words struck a nerve not healed for millennia. "I'll be the judge of that." The darkness moved out into the light, a tattered black cloak masking all form and feature. It billowed suddenly in the winds, sending her own hair whipping to one side. A single claw of a hand drew up to bring the cloak from its head. Daitan gave a choked cry and staggered back. The gun wavered down, then swung back up, trembling in shock and rage. "Give me answers! You know what I want! You've always known what I want! Gods damn you! Gods damn you to Hell with your brother!" She screamed, eyes taking on a light that showed reason was slipping. The man laughed again. "A lie, Aramusha Roe, is most convincingly hidden between two truths." "ENOUGH! Tell me who I am!" "You are nothing but a coward. A disgrace."  
  
"Shut up!" Tears fell down her cheeks, falling between the banks the sword- shaped scar on the left side of her face created.  
"You are a liar with no honor nor pride." He scoffed audibly, spitting at the swerving grass by her boots. "Your eyes glow even now. You have had years to redeem yourself. You have proven nothing but one thing." "I've had it!" Daitan roared. "You know the answers! You're the one man who does! NOW TELL ME WHO I AM!"  
"You certainly are no Hero of Time." Daitan's eyes widened, the pupils disappearing into pinpricks. Determined to make this beast crawl, her finger trembled against the metal trigger. As her teeth flashed, it was pulled. BLAM! The deafening report shattered the thick silence. The color drained from Daitan's eyes, leaving listless, terror-stricken voids of what once was. She staggered in a nightmare to the man's side. Her last bullet had fired the third time around. It fired straight into the others heart. He was near death and worst of all he knew it. Daitan looked down, not wanting to believe what was happening. The man laughed, blood gurgling out of his mouth. The eyes of a demon neither yellow nor red bored into her soul.  
"Who is the true Bringer of Darkness? The devil behind the smoking gun? or the monster who wields it?" the thing choked out before he gave a final laugh and was no more. Daitan swaggered backward, eyes still void. She shook her head, tears still staining her face. Then she turned and sprinted towards the temple..  
  
Valar  
  
Power to shape shift?  
+Gandalf sent down to Middle-earth like others of the Istari.  
-Three original races-  
"Angels", Elves, Dwarves  
Creatures such as Gandalf might have been corrupted into.? --Creatures such as Gandalf had the power to presumably shape shift. If corrupted-they would have been the first Demons. Not true, yet nonetheless. As the creatures multiplied they became different species and became what they are today. Those demons-er-did Elves, Dwares (?!) and evolved into "Hybrids". Cetras, Wingleys and even Werewolves and Anthros. Yet, still there's something I don't get. I wan't supposed to live up to this point. I wasn't supposed to be told by Shippo. Wait. Shippo. "You don't know, do you?" How did he find out I was "Rose's sister"? And then that man I spoke with when I first met Cloud and the others. He was telling me about someone related to a powerful wind-god or something. I caught his drift and pointed to my chest. "Me?" He gave me a glance and said, "You catch on fast." I forget about it till just now.  
Ye gods, it all makes sense now. Koenma said that there is both Fate and Destiny. One is final and the second hold two roads over which one can travel.  
Rose and I were never supposed to meet. She was supposed to die within weeks and I was supposed to meet my end still a BountyHunter not many years later.  
Tennosei was against us all along. She was playing us from the start. I frighten myself and become sickened to say the words, but all the while she was with Lukin. That's the reason she hooked up with Cid. To keep us him from Rose and I. That's why she took away Kouken who reminded me so much of William. That's why Chloe took my "father". She was never pregnant. That's why I was so much more mature than Tennosei. I was older the whole time! That's why she was so jealous every time I got Cloud's sword and power to protect!  
Tennosei and Chloe must have done something with Sekmey to turn  
her against rose or Sekmey was against us all along. Her leaving the  
family would have torn it to bits, leaving Tennosei as a lean-to.  
One problem. I was there. That's exactly what Chloe did my father in for. In case I showed up on the scene. I was Tennosei's "sister", not Rose's. With Rose and I firmly out of the way, Tennosei and mother and what- not would have ruled with Hojo and or whatever. That's why that night my army was supposed to move against Lukin'sin sure victory, "Satnine" sent a written message that he and Cloud decided I and I alone was supposed to stay behind! And Tennosei was supposed to go in my-a true, competent general's-stead!  
But Rose and I stayed together still! Just as Grandpa Bilbo took in his nephew, I suspect my father did the same. He took in his brother's orphaned daughter and raised her as his own. Now Kikyo. She wants Cloud's power! I get it now! It's not that she wants to be with InuYasha in death! She just wants him dead period! I get it now! InuYasha's prayer beads must contain some power like my own! That's why she wants him dead! They were no tricks of Naraku's! He's merely her pawn as Hojo, Lukin, Xavier!  
That's why he never dirties his hands! She even betrayed Sauron! Jeez. The First Dark Lord. Was a woman?! When He figured out she was using him, He went against her. The reason she wanted InuYasha dead before he got the prayer beads was because she saw it was going to happen! I've done it! Yet I don't know if it's true. I need to ask Shippo how he learned of it. Then I need to talk to William's father. If three of his canines have a small, faint, white scar, all that I've guessed is true. I can only pray that no more questions arise. Like-is that why my city was sacked? Is that why Rose and her brothers were separated? I've got to kill her. I've got to kill Kikyo. Maybe then I can get the string of past. Or present to light up. Prpbably the past. Either way, I'll be closer to getting this thing off of my neck. One of these things, at least. If it's all true, I can understand why all this has happened. But - I can't forgive what I've done.  
  
Daitan wrote fast, pen racing over the notebook she held on her knees. She stopped and stared at what she'd written. How? How could I be his daughter?. Damn this! If only I had a piece of glass! I lost it near the microwave. Before I started writing, I was so frustrated. I was looking for it like it was a shard of the Shikon jewel. She sighed and looked out into the inky night sky. She was in the back yard she shared with a human, a minor demon, a reincarnated gladiator and elf. The latter three of which were all cats. The last to inhabit the flat was an overly jealous German shepherd-lab mix. The yard was small; even now she sat on a green swinging couch. Shikon jewel shard?. Gah! If my cousin read that he'd be all over me.  
Shippo. Every time he calls me IndYasha, I yell at him, give him the cold shoulder, growl, mutter and bludgeon him over the head and shoulders. I act like I can't stand being called that. Heh. His "favorite half demon". It's not every day I'm called somebody's favorite although that's actually InuYasha's title. It's actually very flattering.  
All the same, InuYasha and I are nothing alike. Inu's cool, confident. He's not afraid of anything and he'd go to any length to protect his family and friends and he's still a tough guy. Everything I'm not. It's like I don't want to admit I'm his sister. I'm not his sister! I can't be! I'd better turn in `fore I'm busted. Daitan looked over to the sliding glass door. Part of here still wanted to stay out in the night. The rest of here knew a fight was undesirable. She got up, bare feet silent on the concrete patio. The door, however, jarred open-screeching the whole way. The vampire stepped into the apartment's cramped living room, wondering what the dawn would bring.  
  
Circling, circling, circling your head. Trapt. It drown out the tile-floored hell-hall Daitan Seijun had strode into. She wanted to know just how to wield the sword known as Tetseiga. Contemplating everything you ever said. For all onlookers, she was confident, even arrogant. Her brows were pursed, eyes flashing at the slightest movement, fists clenched. Her boots thudded over and again on the shiny floor. A headset pulsed in her ears. A black pack was slung over her shoulder, one tattooed hand clenching the strap roughly in place. She swaggered to a blue fence-bench. A dark haired Kitsune and light-haired Cat. Daitan dropped the pack roughly and crouched down in front of the two. One hand steadied her on the floor, the other stretched out. The Cat's black ears pressed back, a strand of platinum hair falling over her jade-green eyes. As Daitan sighed, the cat placed folded pieces of paper into her hand. Daitan swallowed and unfolded the papers, beginning to read. Her eyes widened as she read the first name. The name of a man with whom she'd grown so close to fighting out of Neo-Midgar's slums.  
  
Koenma gave this to me,  
Daitan  
I don't really know what it  
means yet.  
He said this happened In a  
nightmare. Quatre: I hear you Trowa.. Dont come any closer Trowa!..  
What DiD I just say!?! Dont come any closer to me!!  
  
Trowa: Quatre... we were all fooled by Shinra .. But now  
lets just accept It. Turn back Into the Nice Guy  
you used To Be. please..  
  
Duo: Quatre.. What have They Done to you..  
  
Quatre: (Tears roll Down his cheeks) Duo! Stay Back!!  
Please! Duo!!  
  
Heero : Duo . Stay Back. Quatre Is desperate.. he will lash  
out at anyone.  
  
Heero: Quatre Try to calm Down Daitan: come on Quatre You have to calm down .. This isnt  
you...  
  
Quatre: STay aWay!  
  
Duo: (steps Forward) Im Not GoinG To leave . Not without  
Quatre..  
  
Cai: Quatre Please let us help you.  
  
Galahad: Please Dont Do this Quatre.  
  
Cloud: ....I Dont want to hurt you Please calm down  
  
Kurama: .I hope He will listen. Please Quatre. listen to  
Dare and the others.  
  
Quatre: Gahh!! Stay Back! Go away!!! (uncontrollably Blasts  
His Holy Powers). Ahh!  
  
Daitan: Quatre!!!.  
  
| End of Koenma's Dream  
  
If possible, Daitan's scowl was drawn even more. Anger lighted her eyes for a moment before she slipped the paper behind the stack and allowed her eyes to trail down the second sheet.  
  
Hey Daitan  
  
Whats (? Nothing here But Gettting The other half of Koenma's dream and here It Is..  
  
Xu Huang: No Not Now..  
  
Duo: (Pulls out his scythe) Quatre! Please listen to me!! Quatre: No Get Back! Stau away from me!!! Trowa: Quatre Please... Wu Fei: We have to stap Quatre or who knows what he'll do! Heero: (looks to duo) Duo calm down (Thinks "Duo's  
emotions. They're Getting unusually high for him). Duo: (unfolds his Black Feathered wings) W.wh..ats? Going  
on..? Xu Haung: Duo stay Back! The odd aura around Quatre IS  
making your powers Emerge To Quickly! Daitan: Duo!! (Grabs Summon) Go on Carbo! Carbo: (Fire-dog Summon growls) Daitan: Quick, Carbo! Extreme speed! Grab Duo! Carbo: Rwaaaar! [knocks duo away From Quatre] Daitan: Come on back, Carbo. (Returns him to Stone) Duo: (eyes widen) ah..! Daitan! I know where shes hiding Daitan: Duo what can you see? Trowa: duo! Heero: duo try to keeP your Powers under control! Cloud: Kikyo is responsible for this!! Quatre: No Please!!! Xu Huang: Greater God of destruction? No It couldnt be..  
Not duo Duo: Daitan we have Tp Calm him down Quatre: (huge white angelic wings spread with the follow up  
of Blood) argh! Shinra!! Ill Never ForGet This! Sesshomaru: (Gets up from the Ground and coughs up Blood)  
Daitan .. Daitan: Anubis! You ok? anubis: Im fine. cloud: (looks to him then to Daitan) are you sure you want  
me to stay out of this?  
  
Daitan: Yeah. Its Personal.. Cmon rose lets try to calm  
Quatre! rose: Right behind you! vegeta: Daitan wait for me!  
End of dream  
  
Daitan was silent. The kind of silent that has its own voice. Not the scream of terror-wrought eyes, nor the violent sobs of a painfully taut face. No, this silence seemed to enlarge as it growled; thick muscles straining and bulging as lax began to fall. The embers in her eyes slowly began to smolder. Her name had been made for too many last words and oaths. Her name had been cursed, damned, cried, roared and wailed. It had been screamed over dust- strangled arenas, questioned, forced, whispered and breathed. Moaned in dark forests and hissed through one side or the other of iron bars. Now, this premonition-this doom-had her name choked out onto the ground with liquid red gore.  
  
Quatre: ... Daitan: Thats right Quatre Just Calm down Quatre: D.are Im S..sorry.. Daitan: Its ok.. Just calm down.. Duo: Quatre! Are you ok?! Quatre: Yeah. Im Fine. Duo. Im sorry for acting the way  
I did. Duo: don't kid yourself. You did Nothing wrong. Trowa: (Smiles) Its good to see him Back To himself.. Heero: Yes it is. Wu Fei: ...(chuckles lightlY Then Stops Suddenly).. Shinra,,, Kikyo's Cetra bodyguard: Quatre. what are you waiting for.  
Kill them!! Quatre: No!! Get AWaY From me!! Duo: Back off ugly!! (Grabs his Gun) Daitan: Leave Quatre alone! Heero: (Cocks his Cun) Go away. Wu Fei: (unsheathes his sword).. Trowa: (Pulls out his Gun) Cloud: (Tries To listen to Daitan by Staying out of it) Bodyguard: (Grabs up a Gun, cocks it and Shoots Daitan In  
The chest, Not killing her But leaving her Badly  
wounded) Heh. Daitan: (Falls Backwards landing on the Ground). ugh!.. Quatre: Daitan!! (runs up to her) Daitan Duo: No.. Dare.. (his Persian Blue eyes Go Blank). Cloud: Dare! (Pulls out His sword Then runs up to her) Daitan: (struggles to stay awake) Im. alright... Kurama: (runs up to Daitan and puts a rose barrier over her  
and Quatre) Cloud: (heals the wound as much as he can for Now) Daitan .  
Please let me help.. Daitan: N.. No. cloud.. Dont. Duo: (chuckles lightly Then starts to laugh evilly) .you...  
Just Dug. Your own Grave.  
Daitan: D. Duo.. whats wrong..? Quatre: Duo. Heero: Trowa Wu Fei Take cover!! Trowa/Wu Fei: (nod at the same time and do as instructed) Duo: (laughs menacingly) Your Gonna PaY! BodyGuard: (GasPs) God. of. destruction. and chaos. Not  
To Mention. Insanity (Smirks) Fine Ill take you on! Duo: (Flaps his Raven Black wings Then pulls out a scythe)  
The God of Chaos Is Back from Hell!! (laughs  
maniacally as he Begins to Transform Into His God  
mode. He Grows a second Pair of wings.. His long hair  
Is taken out of the Braids and and Is let down.. his  
outFit Is that of an escaped mental Patient.. and Is  
covered In the blood of Innocent children.. His  
Demonic Tail Becomes longer and stronger.. Then his  
Eyes look as if he is a crazed lunatic) Heh.. No more  
Haunting For me. Daitan: Duo! (Groans From the Pain) .. Duo.. what are you?.  
  
Daitan searched over the paper with no word. She was well aware of two pairs of eyes staring at her as she read their joint fate. She gave no comment as she placed the document once more behind all others, hearing the small shff from her headset.  
  
Hey Daitan  
Its me Shippo  
So i'm gonna make koenma's last dream quick.  
  
Daitan: (thinks: "Duo. is he the Bunnyman?.") Kurama: (groans) its hard trying to keep this shield up! Cloud: (puts ultimate shield over dare and Quatre) there  
that should help some. bodyguard: (thinks: "hmm where have i seen this nutcase  
before?") are you finished?! Duo: (chuckles crazily) Finished?! Ive only just begun!!  
(grabs his scythe and chuckles crazily. looks to his  
scythe and cradles it over his shoulder[like inuyasha  
does with his sword]) you know I think i should  
introduce you to a very good friend of mine before i  
slaughter you! (grabs a summon Stone and chuckles) Daitan: (gasps) he has Summons!? Duo: (throws summon) Come on, Mange! (a huge black-Fire  
Canine covered in blood with the same psychotic eyes  
appears) Go, Mange! Use your Buster cannon! Mange: (low eerie growl as he uses the cannon) Rrwoo.. Bodyguard: argh!! (falls backwards) Duo: enough, mange (Calls back mange and puts away stone  
with the others) and that is not all i have. but i'm sick  
of playing!! Bodyguard: (growls) come out of the darkness then! where  
are you!  
[ka klunk ka klunk ka klunk on the bridge) bodyguard: (sees the flicker of something. like eyes) Show  
yourself if you're there! Daitan: oh, shit.. duo: (*ka klunk ka klunk*drip drop drip* grabs scythe) Bodyguard: (shifts eyes) Come on out! Duo: as you wish! (drives his scythe into the guard's back  
and laughs crazily) Die! (then cuts his head off) Quatre: (says nothing and just sits next to dare stunned) cloud: (puts away his sword and takes down both shields) Kurama: (at a loss for words) Wu fei/trowa: (both of them put their weapons away) daitan: ..Is everyone all right? Heero: We're all fine. Quatre: what about duo?.. Duo: (stands there with blood dripping from his scythe [ka  
klunk] walks off the bridge) .are.. you. alright Dare.. Daitan: I'm. fine. duo. what about you..? duo: I'm ok.. Quatre.. i'm glad you're back. (slumps on the  
floor) Daitan.. I'm going to sleep now. night (lies down  
and falls asleep) cloud: (heals daitan's wounds) There.. now you can fight  
kikyo Daitan: thanks, cloud. (picks up Duo) sleep as long as you  
want, duo,, you deserve it.  
  
Daitan leaned back on her heels. She closed her eyes tiredly, trying to regain her composure. She brought up her gaze and nearly squawked. In place of her lithe best friend, a shriveled old prune sat leaning against a long- handled mallet. Daitan almost choked on the air in her mouth. "Toto-sai-what're you doing here, you old goat!" The mallet came down hard on her head. Daitan cried out and clutched her skull, shooting the geezer a steely glare. "I've just come to see about your sword. The one I forged for you. A few things you should know-" "I don't need to know how to wield my own blade, bat! Ow!" The sword smith hit her again. The Kitsune found this extraordinarily amusing. Daitan glanced over to her and growled, "Don't say a word, Keira." Toto-sai looked to the fox with a shrug. "You can tell by their tempers they're related. "As I was saying: there are a few things you need to know. First of all: about your sword. Because of the Yoh-Ko's fang placed into the metal-Kurama- lying will be hard. As a matter of fact, it will feel as though you're killing someone." Daitan's eyes narrowed, anger rising in them. The smith continued. "Secondly, since you are what you are, your sword can both knock down a powerful Demon with one swipe as well as heal one. When you master it of course. Last of all, the sword can transform. Say the words Steel Rose, for that is its name. The sword will transform into a metal flower. Give the flower a flick; like you would with your oh-so cherished bullwhip." One hand went immediately to the coil of leather hooked below one of the low-slung gun belts that crisscrossed her hips. Toto-sai went on. "It will shift into a powerful blade of its own." Daitan was still pissed. And she intended for him to know this. "`That all, old goat?" Toto-sai gave her a look that screamed 'I thought you'd never ask'. Daitan snorted, spat, and looked back up to his face. Could she be answered? Was this it? Was all that she had assumed true? "No, that's not all. Before anything else, allow me to remove the magic sealing away those marks of yours." "Magic?." "Yes, a spell." Toto-sai raised a hand, directing it towards her. With some given release, three bars of hot fire seared across either of her cheeks. A seventh etched its way above and between her eyes. She felt her ears screaming as they seemed to disappear. As a finale, there was an explosion in her mouth and duel-blades pointed deep into her tongue. Daitan gave out a cry and gazed with stricken emotion at the looking glass Toto-sai held for her. Strips of magenta worked their way from her jaws and under her eyes. The top waved slightly, the bottom was jagged. An azure star graced her brow. Her gaze shifted to her dropped mouth. Behind her abnormally elongated canines lay a second pair, slightly shorter. Her flame- colored ears were ice-light. "Ggagh!" With a strangled yelp, her eyes flew wide then scrunched shut. Her skull felt as though each individual hair was being taken out all at once. The pain extinguished as suddenly as it came, leaving her to gaze back into the blue eyes of a demon. Her brassy hair was long and silver, the blond bangs bouncing slightly. "No." The words were hard to form. The only thing this proved was that the man in black was right. This deception was cleverly concealed in the truth. Her entire life had been made up of lies. What next? What could possibly happen next?  
  
Daitan groaned, the enormous sword newly forged for her dropping down with a clank! onto the dusty earth of the training ground. She panted, beads of sweat trickling down her face and chest earlier than usual. She shook her head, salty water flying from her bangs. She hefted the enormous blade up and back into its sheathe. She snorted and looked around, vision growing blurry. Shaking her head again, Daitan made for the docks so near to the training grounds.  
  
The sound boots hitting the wooden planks of the dock seemed to give Daitan some more strength. The smell of the water cleared her mind, allowing the sense of pain in her head and stomach, and generally every muscle in her body ever more acutely. Her gait was off, leaving her to swagger. A second clanking hit her ears, making them prick in surprise. The lithe form of one of her own kind appeared in front of her. A grin managed to come over her pointed canines as her hand clenched the small black bag holding some stolen cartridges for her captain.  
The other stopped and put a hand on her shoulder, bringing her around to face him. "Hey, Will." She started, giving him that smile again. She brought a hand up and waved at him, swaying slightly.  
The pirate sighed and shook his head. "Oh, no, you don't. The last time I saw you walk like Jack, I started to worry. Now I'm just scared. Come on, you're going to bed." Daitan protested she was fine as she fell against his side. Will shook his head and chuckled, walking her back down towards the familiar forest Five minutes later, she finally quieted down and halted. Will stopped, one arm steadying her shoulders. He cocked his head to one side quizzically. "You know, you've got really nice eyes." Those dark eyes widened as he virtually dragged her towards the tree line. "Don't worry, Daitan. After Jack hears this, I'm all too sure he'll understand."  
  
Five minutes later Daitan was a dozen feet off the ground. She sighed, breathing in a smell very different from the ocean. A hand brushed the wet bangs from her brow. The vampire closed her eyes, her cheek dampening against the Elf's stomach. A shock of black bangs fell onto her face. Her fingers rested against his chest, feeling his breathing before darkness took her. Somebody shoot that goddamn owl. Seijun thought. Dusk had fallen, leaving her to assume it was about three hours after she'd fallen asleep. Fallen asleep where? Daitan looked down over her shoulder at the ground a fourteen feet below. Oh yeah. In a tree. She groaned slightly before remembering exactly why she was in a tree. Her ribs rested between the Elf Sorren's knees, her head on his stomach. His green eyes stared out into the dapple- lighted foliage. Oh, if only you'd speak. I may be walking to my death in mere hours to come. All I need to know is that you'll be waiting for me when I return. If InuYasha still cares for her, I'll be killing my brother's lover. Oh, just say something; you who has the two fairest stars in all the heavens that do entreat entreat his eyes to twinkle in their spheres till they return. What if your eyes were there, they in your head? The brightness of your cheek would shame those stars as daylight does a lamp: your eyes in heaven would through the airy region shine so bright that birds would sing and think it were not night*. Sorren looked down to her and smiled, seeing her gazing at him. Can you hear my thoughts? The half-breed wondered. It wouldn't surprise me. She placed both hands on his chest, trying to raise herself up to embrace him on a sudden impulse. Spontaneity was her typical style. Anywhere. All Daitan really succeeded in doing this time was crashing back down. "Woah, woah, woah. Easy there, okay?" Sorren murmured, putting his arms around her. Dare looked up, taken off guard. "Are you alright? The instant you got up the tree, you were out. Will said you looked sick a few days back." He smiled at her and stroked the blonde stands back. Daitan's demonic teeth clenched. She took his hand and placed it on her cheek as she brought her face close to his till they were only inches away. Sorren's lips parted and Daitan leaned forward to kiss him as the day melted away. A fire jerked in her head. She pulled back suddenly, though only far enough away that his breath was still hot on her mouth. His teeth were vampiric. She'd done that. She'd taken his life. She'd sworn to protect him. Sorren looked to her inquisitively. "What? Are you all right? Is something wrong?." Daitan shook her head, remembering so short a time ago as she watched that same chest her hands traced be blown open. She brushed her fingers across his lips, telling him in few words what was on her mind. When she'd watched him slowly waste away. The wound bubbled and boiled. His fever grew and wouldn't stop. Blood mingled with sweat. When she'd watched the blood pulse in his veins. When he'd taken a turn for the worst. When she took his heart away.  
  
*Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Act II Scene ii Line 16 "Sundance, I'm so sorry. You were. I. I could never survive another battle without knowing you were at home waiting for me. In this business, it's all or nothing. I'm Rome's Second-in-Command; I train under the Ultimate God. It's my job to save the world. I made a promise, Sundance. I swore that I'd protect the last of the Dorion Elves. If I was given a choice, baby, between the an Armageddon I could prevent and loosing you for all of eternity, there'd only be one question I'd ask the informant." The Elf's head tipped to one side. His brows were furrowed as he looked into her heated eyes. They flared into his like WD-40 to a Zippo's flame. The necklace that perpetually hung about his throat was cold against the pale skin left uncovered by gauntlets on her arms. "What?." "Would I be there soon enough to kiss you one last time.?"  
  
Of course, the Hanyou managed to leave out the parts where she ended up in a tree, the parts where she said something that didn't involve swearing, that steamy Elf make-out scene and especially the part where she managed to fall out of said tree right before Sorren's belt ended up crashing to the ground right along with her. Now that she thought about it, Daitan's ass hurt right now. She resisted the urge to rub out the bruises. Water slid and gurgled across the rocks and banks that made up the stream in her best friend's territory. She was perched atop edifices of crumbled concrete: in which a chain-link fence was stuck. Rose's two familiars were hooked onto a pole next to the huge, hollow-infested stump the Siberian and German shepherd were now eagerly sniffing. Across from her in a rock set in the stream's middle, Rose now crouched. Keira was between both of them, getting a first lesson. Till now, both teachers had held nothing back. At least by ever-soaring levels of rudeness. Daitan now held the stage. Her boots rested on rocks, water trickling through them. The low-slung gun belts crisscrossing her hips creaked slightly as she leaned back. The katana usually at her belt fell against her shoulder, the grip entwining with the hilt of the sword at her back. Her skills as a teller of tales were key now. "You see, Keira, there's a damn good reason why Rose and I have been complete asses to this point. I know we've been drilling into you that those around you deserve the greatest respect without telling you why. Now I'm going to tell you the exact reason. "You see, if you join with us, you're risking a lot. You're life, your sanity, even. "Let me fill you in on a little secret. Some of us; gods among us; are scared of the dark. The story I'm about to tell you has been told before. It is a story about a man I've come to respect, and coming from me, that's saying a damn lot. It was told to another whom I admire. Now, a little background on this man. He's seen a lot. He's seen things horror movies are made of. But, Keira, I tell you, when he heard this, he was scared. He was scared. "Do you know the story of Jack the Ripper?" Rose gasped, suddenly seizing the full weight of what Daitan was about to say. As for Daitan, a smile tugged, menacingly hovering on her lips. "Do you know that he only stuck in White Chapel? Do you know that he only killed prostitutes? Do you know those are all lies? Oh, sure. He killed a whore or two. Oh, sure, he killed in London. But, allow me to digress a moment. The address on that supposed letter of his?. From Hell?. Had a ring of truth to it. "A second secret we hold dear. All those books you've read, all those movies you've watched: some are actually based on something. On someone. J.R.R Tolkien: author of The Lord of the Rings had nightmares about a great catastrophe: a great city engulfed by flood for all of his life till one day he wrote about the Fall of Nûmenor. And the nightmares stopped. He learned later that one of his sons had the very same dream. Coincidence? Last dirty little secret: coincidences do not exist. They are nothing more than comforts in the dark which troubled minds lay upon themselves for some type of solace or the next. "We set our story's beginning in Rome of the ancients, though not its untimely end. The man to whom I swore secrecy to and so refuse you his name was traveling through the city. Only a passer by. As he was passing an alleyway, damp and caked with gods-know what, he was snatched into the darkness. How he fought and how he was taken I do not know and was at the time too stricken to ask. The location in which this tale is set is above you. In space." She smirked. "Oh yes. We've traveled there. But let me continue with a saying; In outer space, no one can hear you scream. They weren't kidding when they said that. Well, this is where the man was taken. Aboard a ship in the ultimate second-location. I don't know how long he was there. He himself knows not. "Have you ever been in the dark, Keira? Do you know the meaning of pitch black? A gloom so dark it has a life of its own in which you are void of the sight of your own hand pressed against your face. Can you even begin to comprehend the meaning of sheer darkness?" The Kitsune shook her head, silence audible. "I'll tell you something about pitch black. Time ceases to even exist. Everything intensifies, leaving you to blow out your own ears with the sound of your own screams echoing back at you. There's only one thing even more frightening than this gloom. People have been raped and ravaged; had their minds and bodies bored into. But, you're not truly violated until another's hand holds your heart. This man had been cut open as if nothing more than a fish to be gutted for dinner. He's seen his beating heart with his own two eyes. He was awake to see it. "He didn't die. He was fed, even. The remains and guts of his kind and like. For, you see he wasn't meant to die. No. Not nearly. What out dear antagonist wanted was a pet. A monster. He wanted this Elf," she allowed herself to slip. "to loose everything. To go insane. That's why whenever he was cut; it was just enough to keep him alive to the next day. Those slashes were precise. They had a purpose, as do slices in war. Both have purposes, yet both could not be more different. In battle's heat, the purpose is to kill your opponent quick and move on. You don't really care about the outcome. Here, there was a care for the victim's future. All was designed to kill reason, not he who holds it. "Even so, madness is a blessing: an escape. A way to loose yourself when the bliss of death is no more than tantalizing. For all events, though he did not find this type of empyrean. Even after his rescue, he was not the same. Something of the greatest sort was taken from him. A thing more arduous to regain then the spirit of one shattered. He was never truly whole again. To this day, there is an emptiness that nothing can fill. "So, the Ripper was killed; the Elf eventually calm; everything well and good again, right? Right?. Wrong. After all I'd heard, I went from the bedroom this story was told to me in to the living room. My young cousin was with me. Understand this: no matter how many times I say I don't I love him. When we got into the room, I stripped of my long-sleeve shirt, leaving myself in a tank top as usual. This garment I through at him on the purple beanbag, growling he'd probably get his sorry-stature self cold. "Keira, have you ever been shackled to a cold, stone wall inside of a tiny, dark room? A torture room? Have you waited as minutes turned to hours and as hours turned to days, wondering when hell would begin again? And after the ever-changing whim of time to hear the slow step-draag; step-draag; step draag as your torturer stepped towards your confine, hauling whatever device of devilry along slowly. Have you ever had that happen? "No? "Well, on this ironically dark and stormy night when after a great battle, the Ultimate God himself had been struck down, it was I as his student whose duty it was to protect the family. Bar none it was his last request before loosing consciousness. So, in this way I ended up with his power and sword. With this immense strength came the ultimate of responsibilities, as I was soon to learn. "Anyway, on that night, I was more wired and paranoid than my usual. I had a right to be. Around the corner-there!-there was a creaking on the floorboards. It was the thermostat. There was a puff of air on the back of my neck. It was the AC. Something cracked outside. The dogs. Times beyond reckoning, my hand fled to my sword, I came to my feet and then smiled to my cousin. I had watched too many movies. "When morning finally came, I heard something. You may think that hearing news of a visitor at the gates is not a big deal. That hearing of your son speaking with a man no one knows is not a thing to spark worry. You aren't me. Alarm bells rang instantly in my head. So, following a hunch, I spoke to him about it. My son said the man wore black, and that he could not see his face. He didn't know the man's name, or where he was from. And that he was right over there. "Here I was, finding myself walking towards and into a nightmare. And here also the man was, face hidden in shadow. I asked him his name. A smile formed beneath the mask of gloom. Jay. I told him I knew a man by the same name. That man, however, had died. How funny. I inquired then as to where he was from. It didn't matter. Yes, I thought it did. The South. How deep? Again, the man gave me simply that cold smile. Deep. "Finally I came upon a question I was to regret more than usual. What are you doing here? That smile again. He informed me evenly that my son had told him much of me. My son had not spoken falsehoods. Apparently, he read my expression and continued on. That creaking in the night, those eerie bumps. Oh yes. That was he. He wanted only to see if what my son had said was true. It was. "Still, I was not answered. Why are you here? To finish what I started. I swore that he could do it only after he got through me. He laughed, one dark hand going to his hood. When he pulled it down, I gazed at long last into eyes neither red, yellow, orange; black nor even green. For Evil with a capital 'E' has its own color. Metal claws zinged from his fingers. He told me quite culturally that the power I wielded was not mine. I would have to give it back. Give it back soon. And when that day came, I should watch my back. My promise stood. So did his. "I sought counsel in a good friend. The Canadian Logan. He'd helped me before. I told him nothing of the Elf. As I had thought, his advice was that of any man with some sense in him. Let him finish what he started. I flew to a stand, roaring I'm sorry to admit at him that I could not allow that to happen! Seeing my friend's look of shock at my reaction hurt me and I bowed my head. I didn't apologize. "As time continued, Rose and I finally entered an abandoned factory. Where we followed screams. Where we found the beast. And the Elf. The latter's scars had been reopened, deeper than before. Well." Dare shrugged. Smiled. "We killed the Ripper." Keira simply stared. But Daitan wasn't yet finished with her lecture. The story that entered into her mind next would be yet harder in the telling than the first. It was to serve dual purposes: firstly to get a point across to the green upstart, secondly to keep her sanity. It was either speak now or forever on hold a bloody piece of glass. She looked over imploringly to Rose and murmured quietly, "You don't have to listen if you don't want to." Rose nodded and walked over to the dogs. Daitan's face fell slightly. She went on still. "Now, one of the most dangerous things that can happen to you, Keira, is being dragged into the Otherworld. Now, Rose and I live in a land named Middle-earth. The White City in Gondor to be exact. Now, around Minas Tirith there are all manner of Portals-rips that can take you to different times and places entirely. 180 A.D. Rome, 1380 England, B.C. Egypt, and even Midgar or the Xavior Institute. Read Michael Chriton's Timeline if you want to know something around how they might work `cuz fairly I have no clue. Anyway, imagine being wrenched back into one of these darker switches, with nothing you can do against it. "Now, it was long ago, but still it hurts. I was and still am your typical brash young commander who got high up on luck, skill and the Emperor's favor. I sate in on dull meetings with the Senate and for this particular three days I imagined my biggest problem was to be the first officer in the whole of the Roman Empire to die of complete and insufferable boredom! In all honesty, I could have cared less about where the exotic tree where going to go or how long the length of the grass around it! "As I said, I endured this dull affliction for three days ere my lord either took pity on me or just plain got sick of me and sent me on errand to Japan. Feudal Japan. So, I took the message given to me to deliver, accomplished its deliverance, and headed to Kyoto. Of course. I was frazzled and stressed, so I made for a place I knew well. Kenshin Himura's place. I asked to stay the night, said I'd be gone before first light and crashed. "Long before morning, I made good on my promise: pursuing my task. I'd a message from one puffed-up lord or the next to meet with the student of the esteemed Cloud Strife along with an address. I passed through the city with a Ranger's ease and found myself at the address sooner than daybreak and got a surprise. Instead of the lofty manor I'd been expecting, I stood facing a warehouse. A sign on the door, I discovered that workers had not been inside for some time and were scheduled to come back at no time near the present. "Not really caring what did or didn't get this guy off, I pushed open the entry and walked into the dust-gagged room, large and airy. The next thing I knew I had a harsh cord of rope jammed between my teeth and a second binding my arms to my sides. In the next instant, my hands were behind me in irons; the rope about my waist stripped of me. I was thrown against the sidewall, the irons binding my hands pad-locked to a circular hook, along with my feet. One of my dark-masked assailants knelt down to my boot to pull the dagger from inside of its cuff. I tried to kick out, succeeding only in throwing myself off balance. The dagger was wrenched out and the three made for my belt. Out came the knife wedged into it; the pistol at my side; the cutlass at my hip. "One, smarter than the three so I now know, instructed them those weapons were not my only ones. As the pistol's shells were emptied, one made for my gun belts. The other reached both arms around my waist to yank the silver revolver jammed at the back of my belt and reached down deep into my back pockets for the elegant switchblade I'd been given. Infuriated by this nearness, I slammed backwards as his hands came out, giving them a mean crushing against the wall. "Finally, all three set eyes upon my own sword: the Muraisame. One reached for the hilt to grab it, but with a scream, he jumped back, cradling his smoking hand. I smirked: I am the only one capable of touching the sword. So with my own stiletto I watched them score at the leather across my chest, leaving the weapon to clatter onto the floor, echoing its fallen keen. "Before alarm had taken hold of me completely, I felt a searing agony in my tail and in the next second saw the scythe placed into it by Cloud Strife when I'd received my final weapon and completed training latent and bloody in the hands of one of the trio. "How I managed to demand their names, I know not. I did get an answer, though it itself was a question. Fifty years ago. What? Fifty years ago when you killed that boy. And then I remembered. Fifty years before the day when my younger brother had been taken and I fell into my old ways of stonehearted carelessness. Fifty years earlier when a black haired Shifter boy with huge mahogany eyes full of innocence came up to me speaking gaily. Fifty years previous when time and time again I shoved him away cursing and snarling for him to get out of here. Fifty years prior when time and again his face fell and floored moments before he came skipping up begging my company again. Fifty years past when the next day a healer approached me and told me it was simply wonderful to meet young Etiam's best mate. When she informed me with a light in her eye of how he spoke of me so on his last night. Fifty years precedent when I asked, Last night? Fifty years before when she told me he was deathly ill with numbered days and fewer friends. An orphan cast aside times more oft than his eight years. Fifty years ere when she found him resting a tear-stained cheek against a strip of my shredded jacket. Fifty years back when he died alone in the night. Fifty years ago. "The realization of this finally cast its full weight over me. A fourth emerged from the shadows: a woman by the exaggerated figure. A dark priestess by the garb. She was singing softly a tune I recognized the instant my ears caught on it. She held a necklace of wooden beads, with shark's teeth and chunks of amber alternating. As she placed this about my head, I heard her song. Fukai Mori. "Over the time spent there, I heard that song many a time and each time it was uttered, the necklace drew on a life of its own. They were good. They knew just where to dig steel into flesh for maximum damage. Each time I fought, those words were spoken. Put your thumb and index finger on either side of your jugular. Now press. Hard. That combined with a hellish energy racked my body, leaving me immobilized in pain. "Once when none were looking, I bolted through a Portal, only to find myself in. Florida of all places. The instant I landed on that beach in soaked T-shirt and shorts, a picture was snapped, catching my look of surprise. I wasn't in the warm Atlantic water off Safety Harbor for more than five minutes when I was dragged back to that waste. My assailants came at me then with shards of broken glass and sharpened switchblades, hacking and stabbing at my eyes. Yet, again and again I found myself unblinded. For a week, though, days after returning home, however I was forced to wear opaque shades of ruby quartz. My greatest power is also my greatest hate: a token of that place I cannot get rid of. "Some days later, I managed to free myself of one of the shackles and found strength enough to scribble a memo. For what reason, I know not. Perhaps to declare nothing more than the fact I was still alive. Anyway, I shot a controlled energy blast at the remaining bars and fled, ignoring the long, deep gash in my right thigh. "I dove through a Portal to find myself in a calmly stark computer room with three computers. Headstrong was jamming cranked up to full blast so that the walls trembled. A young boy with dark hair and Pacific Islander eyes looked at me inquisitively, cocked his head and then cried out happily, Inu! My first thought was to wonder what the hell he was talking about, then to wonder who he was and where I was. A dark-haired girl with a ponytail looked at me and smiled. A youth of about eighteen sat rocking out on one of the computers. "The song ended and I was dragged out by my hand through the room and into the backyard where an eleven-foot deep pool lay shimmering. The boy who'd taken me there grinned and waved to the girl following. Come on, Sango! I finally grasped the idea that the both of them were in swimming gear; I myself in a suit and shorts. I gazed around dumbly, trying to figure what I'd landed in the middle of. The boy yelped gleefully. Hurry up, Inu! You're such a stiff! I gaped in the seconds before my pants were grabbed and I was thrown into the pool. "I came up sputtering and spitting, vowing to kill him who tossed me. That boy. He giggled merrily and raced along the edge backed by a garden and Jacuzzi. One name for him erupted in my mind: Get back here, Shippo!! The boy looked over his shoulder to me and grinned, That's my name! I stopped my heated pursuit of him and stared after, finally realizing I was in Tampa. At my cousin's house. But for how long? "After the anger-driven chase, my injuries got the better of me and I sat apart in the shallows on the steps of the pool. The boy-Shippo now called- paddled up to me on a body-board, lying on his belly. He stopped in front of me and offered a friendly smile, asking me what I was thinking about. I gave a snort and turned my head. He followed the question, and I, still exhausted gave in. My friend. Back home. Who is she? He. The boy's eyes lit up. Ooh! Is he your boyfriend?? I gave him a glare that could only be read as, 'you're treading on thin ice, kid'. He asked me the other's name and I replied, Sorren. "He got off the board and slid beside me over the step, gave a grin and declared, Hey, baby. Does Sorren do that? I gave him a look and asked him if I said yes, would he shut up? He said no so I said yes. He looked at the remaining rings on my hands, a rainbow-like glass sphere catching his eye. He asked where I'd gotten it. I shrugged and replied that I'd found it. Where? The couch. He shivered. Woo! Sounds kinky! In the couch! I punched him. "One of the people inside called us in to take some breakfast. As of then, the thought of food sickened me, so I ate little less than nothing. Two of the humans were arguing. I looked up, interested. One was slathering some red substance on his breakfast. Insanity Sauce? Yeah. I eat it with everything. Insanity Sauce? I asked what it was to get a response that it was something hotter than the suns. "The boy of course shook his head, declaring I wouldn't be able to stand it. I smirked and marched over to the jar, putting in three mouthfuls to loud, articulate and desperate protestations from the whole room. One advised me at all costs NOT to drink water: only milk would kill the pain. What pain? Give it a minute. All looked on with mournful expressions as my face turned red and my eyes widened when flames crept down my throat and chest, and up into my ears. Not yet satisfied, I shoved my head under the faucet and gulped water in about five times. A few endless minutes later, I asked for a cookie. I was getting sick of this 'fortitude' thing. "So then, a half-hour later, we were forced to go to some garden place. When we were there, I immediately bought a Dr. Pepper and chugged it. Outside, the boy spotted a large, old tree. He whipped out a white cloth and slung it over my shoulders as he backed me into the tree, saying the whole while, Here, you must be tiired! As I rested against the ivy surrounding its trunk, I realized just how this looked and proceeded to race after him, yelling my head off as I did. "The gardens we were at were vast and hilly. As I sped after him, he cried something over his shoulder. I tripped over a hole, falling flat on my face. He halted and looked back in amazement. The time dragged by as family pictures were taken before we finally got away from there and I sat against a wall talking with the girl. The kid came up with hot dogs for lunch. I grabbed mine and immediately scarfed it down, leaving the two staring. The boy shrugged, two words explaining everything that had happened. Dog- demons. I looked up, Excuse me? He just grinned. "And so to many 'I `wanna ride with Inu-yasha'`s, we finally arrived at Sea World. If I'd thought it couldn't get any worse. It did. As we entered, I walked along, griping silently to myself that I was stuck with babysitting annoying little brats. While the day wore on, I believe I endured three whole shows. Maybe four. I wasn't paying attention. After that, I proceeded to tag after my cousin, trying desperately he didn't make a fool of himself. I was scaling some ropes-shoeless-and yelling at him to get down, when my foot caught between them. I gritted my teeth at the searing pain in my leg and shoulder. "The boy looked back at me and saw I was too close for comfort. I was trying now to yank my leg free when his yell startled me. SIIT!! I gave a cry and tripped: falling flat on my face. The ropes burned across my wet shirt and suddenly a new pain erupted into my chest. I looked down, my mouth dropping in shock. The force in which I crashed through the Portal had done something near impossible. It had done what hours of intense concentration could barely begin to accomplish: it had wrenched the necklace Through with me. "After crashing over that abyss of rope twice more, the boy and I found ourselves staring down an enormous `coaster. The Kraken. After some taunting, I had him going on with me, along with one of the humans and her young daughter. The four of us entered the hour-long line, my excitement growing with each step. Finally we neared the end. The blue wall was just short enough for me to gaze over at our doom, but not for the boy. I picked him up, hauling him over the wall. He laughed, looking out over it. He looked down to me, Hey, InuYasha, do you think you'll be scared? My face faulted. How dare he! I brought him down and slammed my fist into his head, giving him a scowl. How could he possibly think I'd be scared?! "He got a nervous look and bowed his head to the metal cross about my neck: the one with the Crystal of Cloud in the center. I raised an eyebrow. It's gothic. In a way, it was. He looked up to me and shrugged, reaching out to finger it. It is? I nodded. He shrugged again and continued on. "We eventually made it. Three people to go and we'd be on. Then an announcement came. The ride needed to be fixed. My cousin and I shot each other a look.. Just our luck. What perfect timing. My cousin turned about fully and grabbed my arm, wrapping his hand below my elbow. I stared at him, trying to figure out what he was doing. He looked back up to me with a certain knowing. It's how people in the medieval days shook hands. My jaw dropped. He was just a kid.. Yet he knew this? I blinked slightly, and then put my own hand around his forearm. He suddenly grinned: the biggest smile I'd seen him give. Kraken Forever. "I recoiled as I found the true meaning of those words he spoke. Kraken Forever was nothing more than a way of saying Strength and Honor! Boiled down to it all it meant was courage everlasting; loyalty without price; dignity in all situations; and friendship unmatched and unquestioned. I stared on as we spoke oaths greater than one spoken of a past slave and gladiator pledging sword, life and service in the hands of Rome's emperor. "The human instructed the boy and I to sit on opposite sides of her and her daughter. My cousin fought this idea, wanting to sit beside me. We filed in that order however, and bars chanked over our shoulders. The `coaster started. We screamed. After dives, climbs and loops with G's strong enough to ail your chest to holler, the thing stopped. I panted, looked to my right. `You okay, Shippo? I gasped. But it was not the end. The roller coaster jerked us forward again. When we get off, the first words out of out mouths were, Who's up for round two!?! "We headed toward a different area, I started to stress. I had little money, but what I did have I wanted to trade for something special. We passed by a shop with the item I desired inside of it. I asked the leader if I could get in, grab it and get out. I wouldn't be long. She denied this: saying we didn't have enough time. I sighed longingly. One of the humans: a man gave me a smile and slipped me a fiver, saying he'd wait for me. I gave him a look and pushed the bill away. He told me to take it quick, before anyone noticed. "I raced into the shop, grabbed up the plush Great White shark I'd so desired, paid for it and ran back out. He told me to keep the change. "As the day came to an end, we all piled into a van, the girl on my right, the boy on my left. He yawned and tried to rest his head against me. I pushed him away, simultaneously yanking on the wooden necklace as I did. He gave me a grin and asked quite maliciously, I bet you let Sorren do that! I gave him a death stare and popped him one. This continued the whole way home, turning into a playful boxing match. "The group finally arrived at the house. It was the boy's birthday. The girl, he, and I stayed together through the night. The girl teasingly stole my slice of cake and made a break for it over the hardwood floor. I took off after her, barely out of my boots. She turned a corner, I hot on her heels. My cousin, watching, told me to SIT, GIRL! SIT! My socks slipped, feet flying out from under me. "I was on the floor glaring at the ceiling for roughly five minutes before tracking them into the kid's room. He locked the door behind me, three of us now on the carpet, looking over his large collection of rare stones. An insistent knock came to the door, followed by others: all of which he had to chase away. He came back one time and sitting said to me something hard to forget. Locked freedom. How's that for an oxy-moron? "At one in the morning, I was back inside the computer room. Sanctuary. The elder boy was at his own computer, playing Diablo II. I was at the other, my cousin over my shoulder. Headstong played to us softly. I found things that night which are no one's business. Not even my own, though it was I with whom they were concerned with. Betrayal. Lies. Power. The usual that makes a good story for any unconcerned with it. The kid snuck in cookies and milk. "The elder looked over and asked me how to spell my name. I gave him a look and replied. He chuckled slightly, informing me that he'd told his girlfriend I was sitting with him, but left out the part that I was his cousin. I smirked slightly and went back to work. There was a slight cracking to my right. The boy had ignited a green glow stick to rival in my imagination at least the fireworks we'd nearly been busted for setting off earlier. Seeing me stop to stare at it, he asked what was so fascinating. I shook my head and told him, nothing. He gave me that impish little grin again and asked if it was the color of Sorren's eyes. I gave him a glare and relented, saying yes. The glow stick was abruptly shoved down the back of my shirt to restrained laughter. "I gritted back a cry, removing the thing from my garments to place upon the keyboard. I went back to work. Finally, it seemed that the youth could contain himself no longer. He wheeled around from his computer to finally blow over my lightning-quick, one-fingered way of typing. I was doing easily thirty words a minute.  
  
"Can I type that for you? No. Why? I can type. Yeah-but it's driving me crazy! I simply snickered to myself, taking some time to listen to Headstrong before my eyes flew open and I was hauled back into Japan. Still unarmed, I was in a bad way. The words to that song came again to my ears, sending pain racing through my body. I managed to aim an energy blast at the head of one of the trio from before: the one voicing the lyrics. I raced around the building and into a smaller one on the side. "There, I got lucky. Bikes. Out of The Last Crusade, but motorcycles nevertheless. Apparently I wasn't the only one here who could travel through Portals. I hopped onto one, and the chase began. The two remaining wheeled after me. I managed to knock one over, but the last was persistent. My injuries flared up. I was getting tired. Very tired. "In a less populated area, I managed to crash. That song was sung in the midst of the wreckage: seeing as my bike hade barreled into a cluster of rocks, taking me along with it. It grew to the point where I was truck against the ground: fallen in pain. It hurt to breath. To move. It was there that I finally saw the face of my aggressor. He was a boy. No older than sixteen. His face seemed strangely familiar. The face of a. Man I used to know by the name of Seiun. "I screamed at him that I didn't want to kill him. He told me that I already had-at least in one way. I was a deserter: a sin punishable by death. I raised one hand up, creating with great difficulty a gun. The song continued. I brought up my thumb. The agony grew. I brought down the hammer. He didn't stop. I pulled the trigger. "The boy stopped. Started. Looked down to the crimson hole in his chest. Then he fell to the floor. Daddy. Those were his last words. As a wind echoed between the space between us, I fell unconscious. "I arrived back to this place to find the apartment completely flooded. After fixing it up, the human decided that I'd only be a burden, so she asked Rose if I could stay the night. This was agreed upon. I headed to her house and found there that the nightmare had not ended. A good friend of mine: Fox McCloud had been taken. After heading out with a small party, I saw him back to Gondor. "The whole time I'd felt that something was wrong. My fears were justified. Link of Hyrule had been stabbed quite literally in the back by a thing he thought he had killed long ago. Ganondorf. I went to see the Elf, that night. I being the only one in the room, he gave me his sword and instructions to kill the resurrected monster. This happened to which Rose banished him. We later learned that it was my "sister"-Tennosei-who brought back the beast. "You see, Keira, whatever sins you have commited in the past will always come back to haunt you." Rose now walked towards the two and sat down, marking them be aware of the time. She looked to the Kitsune for an audience and embarked on a true-tale of her own. "Daitan's right. Your sins do come back to haunt you. The story I am about to tell isn't about me. I was only there for half the while. Only days ago, there as a battle. Daitan was shot in it. Quatre nearly lost his mind. And so did the man this story is about. The battle ended. The man was exhausted, and Daitan healed. He was taken home. She went into his room to say goodbye before going off to fight Kikyo. He didn't want her to go alone, but was too spent to go himself. So he fused his powers-his essence, if you will-with her. She went to fight the priestess. "When they got there, however, they found a surprise. Kikyo was not alone in this. She had brought the man's father along: the same one who had thrown him into an asylum. Daitan is right again. Madness is an escape. The man's developing powers had gone out of control a few times when he was younger. So his father stuck him in a mental hospital. And didn't take him out. For years he stayed there, listening to the playing of a piano. Playing the same song over and over again. "While he was there, he was worked on. He had different amounts of blood taken from him, things done to see how he'd react. Always a cat watched and always a piano played, over and over again. After seven years, he finally snapped. Lost his mind and in so doing, did not have to be in that hell any longer. He killed the guards: their pet coming back to bite them. But, he still was not finished. He went on a killing spree, taking the lives of innocent children, along with, even, the life of his own brother. "These events have not left him. To this day they haven't gone away. He acts cheerful, carefree. But that happiness is only a mask he hides behind. If you look into his cobalt eyes, you can still see those images. "Anyway, his father told him that he did not want to fight him. The man demanded to know just why he was left in the asylum. It wasn't Daitan talking. Again, that excuse. His father told him that he was sorry, and that he loved him. Then he left. The man separated and collapsed, exhausted by the encounter, leaving Daitan to fight Kikyo. Daitan won through and all of us faced one final error: we failed to realize that though Kikyo was powerful, so was Naraku. "Heh. It's getting late. We'd better go." As Rose went across the stream to unhitch the dogs, Daitan looked to Kiera. "So what do you think?" Kiera just shook her head and explained it all. "I don't know what to think.."  
  
Daitan looked at the clock. It was around three fifteen. Kaidan was still with her. The young Hanyou had a saddened look on his face; white ears drawn back. Daitan edged towards him, trying to be friendly. "So, kid." She grinned, "How's school?" Kaidan gave her a glance and shrugged. "Kids tease me there." The vampire smirked and elbowed him teasingly. "I bet you they're just jealous. What kid can say that their father is the Demon InuYasha?" She stopped a moment, taking some time to remember with amazement still rampant what a couple years and a few strings pulled by the Ultimate God could do. When she and the crew returned home, none could believe how much the place had changed. Nor how much the people had changed themselves. Rose's older brother had grown up so much. Daitan was awoken from her thoughts as the half-breed shook his head. "That's not what they tease me about!" For a second, his brown-gold eyes looked into her blue ones before he bowed his head in shame. Realizing she was walking on thin ice, the Daredevil pressed him for answers. Kaidan swayed his head slightly. "They say it's disgraceful having someone who denies being part of your family." He looked up to her, searching for some sign of reassurance on the vampire's stricken face. "But, you let me call you Daifureimai.! You don't deny it, do you?." Daitan swallowed hard, suddenly very aware of the katana hooked to her belt. She shook her head, mouth dry. "Of course not!" She grinned: a fake grin Wolfwood would no doubt have sighed over. She felt an arrow pierce her heart as she looked into the boy's eyes. "Daitan." A voice on her right saved her from harm. She looked over to see a spiky-headed, ex-gangster with the kanji for 'Evil' on his back. No matter how many times she'd tried to take that shirt, it never looked. She gave a relieved sigh and glanced to him, a relieved expression "Hey, rooster-head!" Sagura Sanosuke's face held no humor. Daitan's façade grew serious. "What is it?." "It's Kenshin." The half-elf's eyes flew open. "Ken-Ken?" she used his pet name, virtually incapable of calling the samurai anything but. A pout from him had her ready to give the man whatever he could possibly want. Sanosuke nodded. "Yeah. It appears that Naraku's got some friends with him." "How do you know this?" Sano shrugged and jerked his head back towards the Mansion's general direction. "Cerebro." Daitan's eyes narrowed. So the battle would start earlier than she'd once thought. She got up from where she sat and walked toward him, "So, who does he have?" Sanosuke's face fell. "Vincent went to the Caverns. He didn't sense Luceria. And. We're thinking Naraku's got Shishio tagging along." Daitan's brows furrowed. So the group of five who were setting out must be more a threat than they thought. Luceria to bring down Vincent Valentine and Sephiroth Strife-she allowed herself an ironic laugh-and Masota Shishio to take on Kenshin Himura and Sanosuke Sagura, leaving her to stay behind and see the rest off to safety.  
  
Sanosuke wasn't finished. "Look, Daitan, Kenshin's already gone out to meet him. He was messed up. He fell unconscious. That's when I arrived on the scene and dragged him out of there. There was something different about Shishio. He was powered up. Somehow. I guess now that it was Naraku's presence that made that mummy-" he used Daitan's word for him, "So different." Daitan voiced her agreement and turned round to the boy, instructing him to go to his father. Then she looked to Sanosuke. "Right. Get them all together. We leave now."  
  
One hour later, an odd mix of soldiers stood outside Gondor's gates. Daitan had gone into Cloud's chambers, asking him to stay behind. Doubtless Naraku would have the city attacked, keeping those inside occupied while the small troop headed out. Daitan fell back, a curious look on her face as she watched Sephiroth. Something ailed him: that was obvious. But what? She snorted as she looked to Kenshin; wholly irritated that the Batt?sai was going along for the fight. The party was quiet, each one absorbed in his own mind. Daitan was just trying the hardest to stay out of hers. With a tip of the head, Vincent bade them follow into a Portal that would take them into Japan. None seemed pleased with this prospect. As they neared Naraku's castle, Daitan cleared her throat. "Look for traps. I fear however difficult getting out will prove, to get in is the miracle." One or two nodded. Sephiroth seemed to fall deeper into himself. Daitan's demonic eyes searched him for any sign of injury, yet there was none to be found. She was famous for naturally and instantaneously sizing up and assessing strengths, weaknesses; characteristics and traits on the battlefield and off. For all intents and purposes, the brother of Cloud was physically himself. Seijun looked over to Kenshin, nuzzling him affectionately on the neck. The rurouni smiled lightly, resting his jaw on her head for a moment before the two continued on. Daitan kept against him at his shoulder, still refusing to say aloud that she wanted her friend out of this battle alive. Before long, the party halted. Daitan sniffed the passing winds. Something was not right. Something was amiss. Shishio was about to make his presence known. The second that thought struck her, there was a cry and the clash of metal on metal. The fight had started. Sanosuke stiffened, clenching his fists. "If anything happens, Daitan-", he began, "we jump in. I won't stand to see Shishio's mocking face over Kenshin's lifeless corpse." Daitan nodded, tensing up alongside him, one hand on the hilt of the sword on her back. Then the two opponents were lost to sight; no more than a blue and red blur. Zanzu and Daredevil coiled up; ready to run the instant they were needed. The world stood still, the clashes and scores revealing little. A leaf drifted down, a sign of the oncoming frost. Sephiroth's eyes seemed to glaze over, an ice covering their color. He drew his sword, watching the Masamune's strange pulsing-like the beating of a heart. His hand tightened around the hilt, vibrating along with it. It wanted something. The sword thirsted for something. And if the sword didn't get what it wanted. "I see them!" Shisho's chest heaved, his breath harsh and audible. At his feet lay the Hitokiri Batt?sai: the Manslayer of the Bakumatsu Era. As Shishio panted, a smirk formed on his lips. He swayed on his feet: clearly hurt badly himself. Sanosuke cried out and Daitan stared on. But it was not the end. Movement. Kenshin was still alive! He groaned slightly, blood and smoke staining his torso. The samurai grunted in pain and raised himself on his saka-bat?. "Don't think this is over, Shishio." Kenshin spoke through gritted teeth. "The two of us are still able to stand, that we are." Shishio gave a dismissive snort, sweat staining his bandages despite the cool air. He wouldn't last much longer. The rurouni continued. "Sano was right. I can't keep doing this. I can't keep watching as my friends fight my battles for me, loosing life and limb as I stand aside. I feel so useless watching them fight. I can't do this any longer." Daitan shook her head, unable to believe what she was hearing. She remembered walking beside him, seeing that unease so poignant in his blue eyes. It wasn't loosing to Shishio that scared him most. It was coming out the victor. "Kenshin!" He glanced over to her. "You don't have to kill him, Kenshin-you don't have to kill Shishio! You're not useless, Ken-Ken. In fact we all need you! Each one of us has a past we'd like to bury. Each one of us has spilt blood that didn't have a reason to be drained. You're a light: a torch where there is no dawn. So many look to you for hope. It's your irrepressible smiles that keep a lot of us going. Believe me, if you stain your hands in his blood now after so long a time, you'll never forgive yourself!" Kenshin Himura stared outright. He'd never thought that way, truth be told. The atmosphere was shattered as a laugh erupted from Sephiroth's mouth. He was shaking now; uncontrollably. A fire had ignited in his eyes. Daitan cursed herself for forgetting the detail that he had been acting supremely strange before they even left. In a flash, Sephiroth was on the second Manslayer, hacking into him mercilessly. When finally the dust and blood-mist cleared, Sephiroth fell to his knees shaking. "It hurts!" Daitan saw that Sano was with Kenshin, so stalked over to Sephiroth. She dropped into a crouch beside him. "What does?" Sephiroth looked up to her, agony in his gaze. "The sword! It has a mind of its own! I kill and kill but the pain doesn't stop! The blade won't let me stop! I don't even care who it is! I don't even know!" Vincent approached tentatively. "Is that why you killed Aires?" Sephiroth nodded silently. Valentine turned to Daitan, "Sephiroth should stay behind. I'll go on with you." Sanosuke looked to the vampires and decided he'd stay behind with Kenshin. Daitan moved closer. "I once read a story." Her voice was quiet. "It was about an evil sword smith who forged a blade. It was said that if you put the sword into a stream, and then placed a leaf into the water, the sword itself would draw the leaf towards it, cutting it in half. There was a second great smith who forged his own sword. If you put this blade into the same creek and a leaf, the sword would push the leaf away. Maybe this is sort of what your blade does." Daitan placed a hand on his shoulder as she got to her feet.  
The two remaining walked on. So that was why Sephiroth had been acting so strange. Not long after she allowed herself to stay in thought, there was a low snarl from Vincent and the cry was taken over. "Luceria!" Daitan glanced up to see the loathed shade. Madness began to take hold of the vampire.  
"I needed to see you again, Vincent." Luceria spoke. Daitan's eyes narrowed dangerously. Vincent spat.  
The half-breed growled. "Traitor."  
Luceria repeated the word disbelievingly.  
"Yes-traitor." Vincent hissed darkly. "You left me to me tormentor and then bore a child destined to kill me? Then you act as if you care! Save your pitiful nothings for your last dying wish because thanks to you I won't ever have one, will I!? I hate Hojo! I hate Whitelighters! I hate you!"  
"Vince-"  
He wouldn't let her finished.  
"No!" Vincent cried out, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I'm sick of you! I've found a new love! Tifa Lockheart! I'm tired of you coming back to haunt me! There's no place for you any more!" He cocked the Death Penalty and shot her down. Daitan swallowed her breath at last. Vincent slumped down against a tree. Daitan came down next to him.  
"You really love her, don't you?" she asked. Vincent brought his gaze up towards her. Daitan lowered her head. "It's nice. Seeing something so simple. You love her. That's just it." Vincent smiled at her and nodded, watching her back as she continued on ahead. He didn't need that stress.  
The castle was close now, nearly within reach of her hand. Daitan halted, staring its door down. Part of her didn't want to enter. Part of her wanted to run away. She stepped forward, feeling the wood. "Daitan!" A yell on her left made her look away. It was her were-tiger friend, Rei. Daitan looked over, mouth ajar.  
"What're you doing here?" she cried. Rei sped up his gait.  
"Naraku's got Teepo. I'm here to help you!" Daitan raised a brow.  
"How'd you know it was Naraku I was after?"  
Rei nodded towards the palace. "Isn't it a little obvious?" He shrugged. "Besides. I know you." Daitan nodded, inwardly thankful she wasn't going it alone. They pushed open the door and entered the castle. The inside of the place was dark. Rei wondered aloud beside her where the conjurer could be.  
"Right here." The duo gasped and wheeled into one of the many shaded rooms. Rei swept the blinds open to reveal to both of them Naraku. "So you two have come, have you?  
  
"Where's Teepo?" Rei demanded. Daitan stood glaring. Naraku nodded to a rope strapped to the ceiling. On it swung the young dragon-boy, kicking and screaming. "Let me down! Let me down from here now!" "Oh yeah. That's him." Rei shook his head, grabbed a shuriken from Daitan's belt and hurled it, hitting the mark. And down came Teepo. Daitan smirked at the look Teepo gave them before turning back to Naraku. "That it? That all you got up your sleeve? Don't waste my time." She reached up towards the sword at her back, and then stopped. That sword held Cloud's power. In all the times she used it, it wasn't her own skills she was relying on. The katana, however, was a different story. Naraku chuckled. "You're right. Cutting him down is much to easy. Have you noticed one of your sons hasn't been around lately, Daitan?" The Hanyou gasped, eyes widening. "Alex!" "Correct. He's in chained down. Just over there." Naraku motioned to the side. "Defeat me and you can save him." Daitan's ears laid back. The stakes were growing high. "Rei." She said the were's name coldly. "Grab Teepo." Rei gave a quick nod. "I'm on it." Naraku blinked; as if wounded. "Why, Daitan, did you think that was all? Sesshomaru was a very fine catch. He's only just there." Daitan felt the breath seize in her throat. First her son, and now this. Duo.. Quatre.. Kenshin.. Sephiroth.. Vincent.. Alex.. Anubis.. Faces raced before her eyes. So much had happened. None had had a moment's peace. Everyone was on edge. There was a reason. There was a reason Kenshin, Alex and Sesshomaru could be dead. There was a reason the White City could lay in ruin. There was a reason Sephiroth and Vincent and Duo could have lost it. There was a reason Quatre was experimented on. The reason was Naraku. Daitan's demon eyes flashed. Her ears drew closer to her skull and her canines elongated. The tied-back hair came undone, leaving it free to whip around in a sudden burst of wind. She snarled, and then growled: a low, hateful sound terrifying to hear. Her eyes glowed crimson as Naraku smirked. "You look just like your brother." Wrong thing to say. "`You ever seen a Shifter angry?" The din of her snarls grew incensed as she ground her teeth. Naraku tipped his head to one side. "No." "Well, now you have!" Daitan roared and drew her sword, the blade exploding into a fang. She lunged towards the sorcerer, hacking through all barriers to hew at Naraku himself. Her swing was wild, though. Naraku still breathed. The sword she wielded was not yet powerful enough to deal the final stroke. "Daitan! Take it!" Daitan whirled around to see the final weapon of Vincent Valentine spiraling towards her. She leapt up to grab its long muzzle from out of the air. The hybrid spun back around, twirling the gun about so that she held its grip, her finger on the trigger and thumb resting on the hammer. Naraku began to stand. "Do it now!" Vincent screamed behind her. "KILL HIM! DEATH PENALTY!" In a dream, Daitan pulled the hammer down. Everything stopped again. Naraku's eyes widened, reflecting his obliteration in their dark depths. When I fought Ganondorf.  
"You know, Daitan, the reason Fox was captured. Is you." On that  
night.  
"I don't want to loose you."  
I swore.  
"I know one thing for certain. You are no Hero of Time." That I would.  
  
"I know what I heard. Now you tell me what to believe." Never.  
"Do you know the story of Jack the Ripper?" Be called. "Kracken  
Forever."  
A coward.  
"They say it's disgraceful having someone who denies being part of your family."  
"AGAIN!! SEE YOU IN HELL!" She pulled the trigger.  
  
"Here, I'll help you carry him." Vincent took Sesshomaru from Daitan's arms. The half-demon didn't need the extra weight. Not after that tremendous recoil that sent her flying back. Daitan walked close, staring into Sesshomaru's bloodied face. The demon's golden eyes slid open slowly to stare up into her blue ones. "You're out of there, now. Everybody's alive. You're safe." Daitan tried to reassure herself more than 'Anubis'. Sesshomaru nodded. "Don't worry over Alex." Even though his accent was soft and it was agony to talk, his voice still held its noble quality. "I didn't allow Naraku to hurt him to bad. He should only be bruised. I wouldn't be surprised if he awoke with a headache. Naraku wanted InuYasha. I went in his stead." Daitan's face crashed. That was the last thing she was expecting. InuYasha was a Demon now. He and Shesshomaru's bloody feud was still a touchy subject. Especially for Sesshomaru. She slipped her hand into his draped over Vincent's shoulder. Her words were barely audible-even to her own ears. "Brother." Sesshomaru smiled.  
  
"Lord Shesshomaru! I've brought that water you asked for!" Jaken raced as fast as those stumps for legs could take him. Daitan looked from Anubis' bedside, her eyes taking on a red glow. She laid her ears back and gave Jaken a stout hiss as he placed the bamboo cup on the table on Sesshomaru's right. Jaken cowered down, whining slightly. Hedid an abrupt about face and took off. In the doorway he turned around, looking at Daitan. "Nice Ranger!" "Hsssssss!" Sesshomaru chuckled. "You and Jaken will never get along, will you?" Daitan laughed. "Never!" From outside, her name was called. She looked to Sesshomaru as InuYasha came through the entrance, his face dark. She said her goodbyes and went out. Sanosuke held a plate of steaming Bagel Bites. It had taken her hours to teach him out to make them. He jerked a thumb towards himself, getting impatient. "Come on! Dinner's getting cold!" Daitan waved him away, telling him to hold on as she padded back and stuck an ear to the door. "I heard what you did." His voice was tight. "You know, you didn't have to, I mean-" "Yes, I did. InuYasha. Daitan finally called me brother."  
  
Why does it feel like night today? Something in here's not right today Why am I so uptight today? Paranoia's all I got left I don't know what set me off first Or how the pressure was fed / but I know just what it feels like To have a voice in the back of my head It's like a face that I hold inside A face that awakes when I close my eyes A face that watches every time I lie A face that laughs every time I fall (And watches everything) So I know that when it's time to sink or swim That the face inside is hearin' me / right beneath my skin It's like I'm paranoid / lookin' over my back It's like a whirlwind / inside of my head It's like I can't stop / what I'm hearing within It's like the face inside is right beneath my skin I know I've got a face in me points out all the mistakes to me You've got a face on the inside too and You're paranoia's probably worse I don't know what set me off first but I know what I can't stand Everybody acts like the fact of the matter is I can't add up to what you can but Everybody has a face that they hold inside A face that awakes when they close their eyes A face that watches every time they lie A face that laughs every time they fall (And watches everything) So you know when it's time to sink or swim That the face inside is hearin' you too / right inside your skin The sun goes down I feel the light betray me. 


End file.
